2025 massacres of Syrian Alawites

A series of mass killings and massacres against Alawites occurred in Syria from 6 March 2025 to 17 March 2025; as part of communal and sectarian violence by fighters aligned with the Syrian transitional government (including locally mobilised civilians, Syrian National Army (SNA) militias and Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah) and armed remnants of the former Assad regime. This violence has primarily occurred in the country's coastal region following large-scale attacks by pro-Assad insurgents on 6 March and is part of the ongoing clashes in Western Syria in the Syrian civil war.
As of 17 March 2025, the UK-based Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reported that 1,084 people, including civilians and fighters, were killed in the clashes since 6 March. According to their documentation, at least 639 people, including civilians and disarmed combatants have been killed by forces aligned with the Syrian transitional government. Armed remnants of the former Assad regime were also responsible for the deaths of at least 231 civilians. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that 1,614 civilians were killed by armed militias supporting the Syrian government between 6 March 2025 and 12 March 2025.
Especially deadly massacres began in early March 2025 in Latakia Governorate, where, according to the SOHR, Syrian security forces killed hundreds of civilians over the span of two days, including 52 Alawite individuals in the towns of Al-Mukhtariya and Al-Shir in rural Latakia alone. These events took place during a period of heightened tensions and armed clashes between Syrian transitional government forces and militants that are loyal to former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as described by Syrian authorities. Despite assurances by new government officials that minorities would be safe in the new Syria, Alawite communities have been subject to a number of massacres since December 2024.
Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa denied responsibility in March 2025 for the attacks. In his speech, al-Sharaa said that "remnants of the former regime" had no choice but to surrender immediately as he vowed to hold accountable "anyone involved in civilian bloodshed". He later vowed to punish anyone involved in the killings, saying that Assad loyalists and associated foreign powers committed the killings as means to destabilize the Syrian state and restart civil war. His office stated that it would create an independent committee to determine culpability for the violence. On 10 March 2025, the Syrian government announced the end of counter-insurgency operations after expelling pro-Assad insurgents from "vital centres" and re-establishing control over most of the roadways in the coastal region.
Coastal Syria, and especially the Latakia Governorate, has historically served as the heartland of Syria's Alawite community, a minority religious group which is considered an offshoot or a sect of Shia Islam, which comprises around 10% of the entire Syrian population. The Assad family, which ruled Syria for decades, belonged to this religious minority, giving a small number of its members positions within the regime (especially those members who were closely tied to the Assad family and those members who served in the loyalist Shabiha militias and were involved in organised crime such as the Captagon trade), while it was suppressing dissent in the community and it was also portraying itself as the defender of minorities against the Sunni Muslim majority. However, the Assad government under Bashar had increasingly become unpopular among Alawites due to its corruption and the economic collapse.
Following the fall of Assad in December 2024, Alawi stronghold Qardaha (the Assad family hometown) was "the first place the opposition factions headed for, just 24 hours after entering Damascus. An opposition delegation met with prominent Alawite figures there and returned with a statement of support from them," according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
After the establishment of a transitional government under then-Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) emir Ahmed al-Sharaa, a "mosaic" of new security forces was installed across the region by the new government, including: the more disciplined and professional General Security units of the former Syrian Salvation Government's HTS-controlled Ministry of Interior in the most heavily minority-dominated areas such as Latakia and Jableh in Latakia governorate; Military Operations Command units (including some Islamist foreign fighters) which were pulled out of the cities to rural areas in late December due to their lack of restraint, one unit of Fursan Sharqiyah fighters affiliated to the Turkish-backed SNA, deployed in Tartous; and local factions returning to hometowns from which they had been displaced during the civil war, e.g. in Salamiyah, Talkalakh, Qusayr, and Homs city. Servicemen from Assad's armed forces, including volunteers and conscripts, returned to their hometowns, making settlements with the new security services to gain civilian status.
In mid-December, HTS sources stated that armed criminals who were connected to the old regime were involved in looting and lawlessness in the coastal region. HTS units were ambushed by Assad loyalist militias. The HTS-led security forces launched a campaign to disarm these groups and to get temporary IDs affording them protection as civilians.
There were demonstrations in support of the old regime on 25 December, and sectarian slogans were posted by both sides, in Latakia in the early days after the fall of Assad, as well as reports of disinformation fuelling sectarian tensions. The same day, there were ex-regime militias ambushed security forces in the Tartous countryside, to which HTS special forces responded with a three-day operation, focusing on Khirbet Maazah (home to many former regime loyalists), which involved considerable use of force including shoot-outs and alleged looting, the first of a series of clashes between government forces and pro-Assad loyalist holdouts, particularly in regions with significant Alawite populations.
On 17 February, al-Sharaa made a symbolic visit to Latakia as part of a national tour, meeting with local dignitaries from various sects.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the new administration had been restructuring state apparatus through widespread dismissals of officials, many of whom came from the Alawite community. According to Alawite activists, members of their community had experienced targeted violence and persecution since Assad's fall, particularly in rural areas of Homs and Latakia Governorates. The Post said that, despite al-Sharaa's public commitment to inclusive governance, no formal meetings with senior Alawite representatives were reported, in contrast with the administration's documented meetings with leaders from other minority groups including Kurds, Christians, and Druze. In addition, several reports of mass-distributed flyers filled with hate speech against Alawites alongside the filmed destruction and vandalization of Alawi religious shrines had been reported since December 2024.
From January, the Middle East Institute, the US-based NGO Syrian Justice and Accountability Centre, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitor formerly associated with the anti-Assad opposition but highly critical of the new government, reported several sectarian incidents, including some alleged massacres, in the western countryside of Homs province, committed during security sweeps aiming to disarm former regime loyal militias.
On 14 January 2025, the SOHR reported that Alawite civilians of Tasnin located in the Homs countryside were targeted by gunmen who said they are part of the Military Operations Command. According to SOHR, the gunmen launched a widespread arrest operation towards the village from early morning to the afternoon of 16 January. Several suspects resisted the arrest attempts. During the operation, the attackers set seven houses on fire and murdered six civilians. Multiple villagers and elders in Tasnin and nearby settlements attempted to report the massacre to Syrian government police and security forces, but did not receive any response mentioning the violence.
On 23 January 2025, the Military Operations Command launched a large-scale security campaign in collaboration with local gunmen in the villages of al-Hamam, al-Ghozaylah, al-Gharbiyah and Fahel in the countryside west of Homs. During the operation, four civilians were extrajudicially killed, ten civilians were injured, and five others were arrested. The SOHR claimed that government-aligned gunmen abused and assaulted other villagers, forcing several to bark and bray like animals, and destroyed several village tombstones.
According to state media, security forces launched a campaign against Assad loyalist militias in the Daatour neighbourhood of Latakia city after an ambush by "members of the remnants of Assad militias" killed two security personnel.
There were several fires in forested areas of Latakia, with the transitional government blaming seventeen on sabotage acts by "remnants" of the Assad regime.
Violence significantly escalated on 6 March, when intense armed confrontations broke out in Latakia Governorate between Syrian security personnel and armed groups, allegedly loyal to the former president. The fighting spread across several towns in the region predominantly inhabited by Alawites. Rob Geist Pinfold, a lecturer in international security at King's College London, told Al Jazeera English that this was part of an on-going co-ordinated insurgency by Assadist militias such as Syrian Popular Resistance (formed in December), designed to provoke sectarian conflict and "set Syria on a path to civil war".
The violence initially concentrated around the Jableh area but rapidly expanded to other locations. Armed remnants of the former Assad regime (reportedly including fighters loyal to former army General Suheil al-Hassan) launched a series of coordinated attacks against security forces in the cities of Jableh, Baniyas and the surrounding areas. Insurgents overran several positions. According to SNHR, upwards of 75% of the city of Baniyas was captured by remnants of the former Assad regime in this assault. SOHR said that 48 people were killed in clashes in Jableh. At least 10 members of the security forces were captured by pro-Assad gunmen in Qardaha, according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. Reuters verified video of fighting between pro-Assad forces and security forces in Homs.
To quell the rebellion, Syrian interim government authorities sent in reinforcements to western Syria. including tanks and armoured vehicles. The Syrian Minister of Defense mobilized government military forces to "break the back of the remnants of the regime and make them an example to anyone who dares to tamper with the country's security." Latakia's Director of Public Security mobilized a full security response to the province. The official Military Operations Management Telegram channel initially urged for popular participation in heading to coastal Syria to "support our brothers", before stating that additional support was no longer needed.
Thousands of fighters from Islamist groups, including pro-Turkish factions from the Free Syrian Army, arrived from Idlib, Aleppo, and Deir ez-Zor to coastal Syria with many local residents joining. Several mosques broadcast calls to jihad, according to Le Monde reporters. Multiple videos recorded by armed men showed large convoys of militants moving towards Tartus and Latakia. A narrator in one video (which CNN was unable to geolocate) stated: "It was the battle for liberation. Now it's a battle for purification [of Syria]," while a man in military gear stated, "To the Alawites, we're coming to slaughter you and your fathers" and "we will show you the [strength] of the Sunnis."
According to SOHR, at least 35 pro-government fighters and 32 pro-Assad gunmen died in the violence, while four civilians were also killed.
The government imposed a 24-hour curfew in the coastal cities in the evening and began a search for militants following the violence.
Beginning at approximately 8:00 a.m. AST on 7 March 2025, armed groups entered Alawite neighborhoods in Baniyas, a multi-faith coastal town in Tartus Governorate. According to eyewitness accounts provided to Le Monde, these groups included Syrian Ministry of Defense and General Security Service members from nearby regions in conjunction with fighters described as "foreigners", including individuals of purported Turkmen and Chechen origin. Multiple witnesses described systematic targeting of Alawite residents, with men being executed on rooftops and in streets. SOHR reported sixty people killed in Baniyas, including ten women and five children, marking one of the largest single massacres documented on 7 March.
General Security entered the village of Beit Ana in search of wanted individuals but were attacked, after which ambulances transporting the dead and wounded security forces were also attacked. State media reported that militias loyal to Assad had opened fire on "members and equipment of the defence ministry" near Beit Ana, killing one security force member and wounding two. SOHR reported that in response there were "strikes launched by Syrian helicopters on armed men in the village of Beit Ana and the surrounding forests, coinciding with artillery strikes on a neighbouring village".
Deutsche Welle reported that executions were carried out by fighters on both sides. Altogether, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR, described by The Guardian as "a human rights monitor considered independent and credible") said 125 civilians were killed over 6–7 March in the attacks, as well as 100 Syrian security forces and 15 civilians killed by Assadist groups. By the early hours of 8 March, SOHR said that thirty-eight civilians in Al-Mukhtariya had been killed, as well as twenty-four civilians in Al-Shir, twenty-two in Qurfays, seven in the Al-Haffah district, seven in Beit Ana and Dweir Baabda in the Jableh countryside, and two in Yahmur in the Tartus countryside, with SOHR attributing these to members of the Syrian Ministry of Defense and General Security Service forces firing squads. SOHR also reported that an Alawite sheikh, Shaaban Mansour, and his son were killed by a firing squad in a field execution in Salhab, Hama Governorate, by government security forces. Combined with the earlier report of sixty civilians killed in Baniyas, the SOHR claimed that at least 162 civilians were killed across five separate massacres on 7 March alone. Reports of widespread looting of businesses and residences by unidentified individuals taking advantage of the ongoing lack of security were noted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Al Jazeera English reported that its photographer Riad al-Hussein was wounded in the clashes but that his condition was stable.
SNHR attributed the abuses by government-aligned fighters to "factions from the North" (i.e. SNA units), and civilians who took up arms in revenge attacks, and called for a full investigation as well as compensation to victims' families.
Syrian authorities implemented curfews in the cities Tartus and Latakia along the Syrian coast, and in the city of Homs. Authorities blamed widespread power outages on "sabotage". President al-Sharaa commented on the violence in coastal provinces, stating that the era of forgiveness and amnesty had ended and the era of "purification" and "liberation" had begun, while urging security forces to protect civilians. Syria's interior ministry said some "individual violations" were by civilians and militias carrying out reprisals for attacks by Assadist groups. The ministry said "We are working to put a stop to these violations that do not represent the Syrian people as a whole." The official Telegram channel for the Military Operations Command announced that roughly a half million million fighters were sent to the region to break the "Nusayri rebellion", with Nusayri being used as a derogatory term against Alawites.
The New Arab said that reports suggested clashes were ongoing in multiple locations in the coastal region on the morning of the 7th, with government forces battling to retake areas around Latakia and the city of Qardaha.
Monitoring groups including the SOHR reported that security forces had conducted executions of fifty-two Alawite men in the Latakia countryside. The organization based its findings on video evidence it said it had authenticated alongside testimonies collected from relatives of the victims. It said these killings occurred in the specific locations of Al-Shir, Al-Mukhtariya, and Al-Haffah. According to SOHR director Rami Abdul Rahman, gunmen killed 69 men in these villages while sparing women and children, but SOHR also told AFP tht thirteen women and five children were killed. SNHR also said about 40 civilians were executed together in al-Mukhtariya. The Guardian said it was unable to independently verify the video, but CNN was able to geolocate one in Al Mukhtareyah. Residents of Sanobar in Latakia Governorate reported that militants shot the town's mayor and three sons in front of their mother, before threatening to kill one of the son's daughters unless his wife gave them their gold. Reuters reported that location-verified imagery from the town showed approximately 20 men, many visibly bloodied, lying alongside one another along a roadside in the town center. Multiple sources released footage showing deceased individuals in civilian attire collected in a residential courtyard, with blood visible in the vicinity and women audibly mourning. Additional video evidence reportedly showed armed individuals in military uniforms directing three people to move on the ground before shooting them at close range. The SOHR distributed these recordings, as did local activists; AFP said it was unable to verify them. Two videos showing a car dragging a body in Latakia were verified by the BBC. Residents of Qardaha reported heavy machine gun fire in residential areas, preventing them from leaving their homes due to intense fighting. People gathered outside a Russian air base near Jableh seeking protection.
There were reports from within the Alawite community that Alawites who had opposed the Assad regime in the past were also murdered by Syrian Sunni militia members, as well as Chechen and Turkmen fighters, in sectarian attacks, including a 72-year-old who had allegedly been imprisoned previously for opposing the Assad regime in the 1980s.
SOHR reported what they said was testimony of a survivor of massacres committed in two villages of al-Fuqara in the countryside of Qardaha reported on the "sectarian cleansing" of the villages, alleging the killing of over 150 unarmed men and youth between the ages of 13 and 85. He claimed that the villages, predominantly inhabited by Alawite residents, had welcomed the new Syrian government following the fall of Assad's regime. He said that violence began on 6 March at approximately 6:00 p.m., when security personnel positioned at a checkpoint on the main road began firing randomly toward the villages, described as an attempt to provoke residents into returning fire to provide justification for a military-style intervention. He said villagers remained in their homes in fear and did not retaliate with any gunfire.
He said that in the early morning hours of 7 March, substantial military convoys arrived from various Syrian provinces. By 5:00 a.m., he said he estimated 4,000 armed individuals equipped with automatic weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles, had assembled near the village entrance. These forces were supported by vans mounted with machine guns. At approximately 6:00 a.m., he said, the armed groups initiated heavy gunfire directed at residential structures while inhabitants remained inside. Following this initial assault, he said that the perpetrators, comprising two distinct factions targeting each village, began systematic house-to-house operations. He said that males aged thirteen and above were specifically targeted and separated from women and younger children, and that these individuals were then methodically subjected either to immediate field executions conducted outside their residences, or being forced to crawl to the village square before being shot. He alleged that the perpetrators employed additional methods of killing, which included premeditated torture techniques such as breaking civilians' backs and trampling them, as well as mutilation tactics such as gouging out eyes and dismembering limbs with saws. In one instance, he said, an infirm man was forcibly removed from his sickbed before being executed outside his home. He heard armes individuals shouting anti-Alawite slogans such as "Alawites and pigs, we will exterminate you" during the operations. He said sectarian songs were sung while victims were being led to execution sites. Following the executions, he said, secondary groups entered the villages with the apparent objective of property destruction and theft. He alleged that individuals systematically looted valuable possessions from residences, destroyed items that could not be removed, and burned numerous structures. According to the SOHR, the massacre appears to have been part of a premeditated plan aimed at both extermination and displacement of the remaining Alawite population in the area.
In rural areas of Hama Governorate, similar violence occurred. In the Alawite village of Arzah, approximately one hundred armed individuals from the neighboring Sunni village of Khitab reportedly entered the community around 2:00 p.m. AST after Friday prayers. According to survivors, village security forces attempted to prevent the incursion by firing warning shots before being overwhelmed. The village pharmacist was allegedly the first to be executed, followed by systematic house-to-house killings involving AK-47s that resulted in 24 deaths, including two women. Khitab imam and Salafi figure Abu Jaber indirectly claimed responsibility for the massacre on Arzah on 7 March. He expressed that it was necessary to "cleanse" the area of Alawite settlements, and stated that it would be the nearby Alawite village of Rabia's "turn" next. Several atrocities were reported in Tishrin in Hama province, including a video of a man being thrown out of his car before being "violently trampled". Tishrin residents claimed that soldiers of the Hamza Division as well as the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division, headed by general Mohammed al-Jassem, both affiliated with the pro-Turkish Syrian National Army, were involved in the atrocities.
On 8 March 2025, the General Security Forces installed multiple checkpoints in the coastal cities of Syria to prevent violations from occurring. By lunchtime, security forces had retaken control of the cities of Latakia, Baniyas, Tartous and Jableh, but fighting with Assad loyalist groups continued in the outskirts and rural areas. Pro-government reinforcements arrived in Qardaha, where Assadist loyalists were still fighting.
In Baniyas, armed groups reportedly returned to areas they had previously targeted, resuming executions and expanding their victims to include entire families, including women and children. One resident claimed that attackers who had accepted payments or valuables such as gold and silver to spare lives on 7 March returned the next day to kill those same individuals.
By midday on 8 March, the number of killings reported by SOHR reached 532, and reached 745 by the end of the day. SNHR, in contrast, said a total of 164 civilians, including seven children and 13 women, were confirmed killed in the villages and towns of Jableh, Baniyas, and Latakia, as well as 121 General Security checkpoint personnel and 26 civilians killed by Assad loyalists, but said the actual death toll would be much higher.
31 civilians in Tuwaym, including nine children and four women, were killed and buried in a mass grave. Residents of Alawite villages and towns claimed that gunmen shot civilians in streets or at the entrances to their homes. In some instances, assailants reportedly checked identification documents to verify individuals' religious affiliation before killing them. Other witnesses reported attackers gathering near residential buildings, firing indiscriminately at homes, burning down homes, stealing cars and property, leaving bodies in the streets, on rooftops, and inside homes, and preventing residents from retrieving the deceased for proper burial. Some residents claimed that the attackers included foreign fighters and militants from neighboring communities, though these allegations could not be independently verified.
During the afternoon, gunmen fired upon a funeral procession in Muzayraa, killing two brothers, forcing civilians to run away into surrounding orchards. Several armed groups coming from neighboring Sunni settlements alleged by survivors to be associated with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) reportedly "started killing everyone in the houses" of Sharifa, while setting fire to and looting residences. Surviving residents reported that they confirmed twenty-seven deaths, which included five women, after assembling photos and videos of residents killed. A list of names of over 130 civilian victims in Muzayraa, over fifty from Snobar, forty-two from Ain al-Arous, and eleven in Bustan al-Basha was distributed by surviving locals.
Electricity and drinking water supplies were cut off in large areas around Latakia. Thousands of residents reportedly fled to nearby mountains for safety. Others sought refuge across the border in Lebanon, according to Lebanese lawmaker Haidar Nasser. Lebanese lawmaker Sajih Attieh reported that "very large waves" of displaced Syrians evacuated to five or six Alawite villages in Akkar District, estimating a total of 10,000 arrivals in one day. He claimed that due to earlier Israeli bombardments of three border crossings, there was no public security present to legally control the flow of displaced Syrians.
Dozens of civilians, former members of the Assad regime and their families fled to the Khmeimim Air Base – still under Russian control – in Latakia province to seek refuge. Footage and satellite imagery verified by The New York Times showed hundreds of newly parked vehicles on roads inside the base perimeter. Video evidence documented large crowds of people outside the facility holding placards and chanting "We want international protection." More than a dozen military tents had been erected, with footage showing women and children receiving food distributed by personnel in military fatigues inside the base.
According to the SOHR, 303 civilians were reported to have been killed on 9 March by the security forces, Ministry of Defense personnel and allied forces, with 103 in Tartus Governorate, 194 in Lataika Governorate, and six in Hama Governorate.
On the morning of 9 March, several reported atrocities took place in Taanita and Al-Qadmus near the city of Tartus. Roughly a dozen Alawite villages in Hama Governorate had been evacuated and deserted. A doctor in a hospital in Al-Qadmus reported receiving several cases with gunshot wounds and shrapnel-related injuries, and that whole families had been "wiped out" by the Syrian government's massacre. State authorities positioned a military convoy in the vicinity of Al-Qadmus.
The Syrian Ministry of Interior stated that additional security reinforcements were sent to the Tartus countryside, reporting that the General Security Department was conducting combing operations around Al-Qadmus and settlements surrounding Tartus Governorate against pro-Assad holdouts. The state-owned Syrian Arab News Agency posted pictures showing forces leaving Idlib Governorate to fight against Assad-linked remnants. The Syrian Ministry of Defense stated that it closed all roads between coastal Syria and other regions to prevent further transgressions.
At Hammam Wasel in the Baniyas countryside, SOHR reported significant military movements by government forces entering the area. Tanks were deployed on the town's outskirts, accompanied by artillery shelling and gunfire, creating several fires in many areas. These operations reportedly triggered fires in several areas of the town and caused panic among local residents. During a state-implemented curfew, Beit Al-Ateiq village experienced artillery bombardment by the Military Operations Command, resulting in the burning of residential structures. Several additional areas in the Tartus countryside suffered from "heavy bombardment" using tanks and drones. The attacks particularly concentrated along the Al-Qadmus-Baniyas highway and in several specific locations including Ta'nita. During rescue calls made during the bombardments, residents of Hammam Wasel and Beit Al-Ateiq reportedly exclaimed that their villages were not concertedly pro-Assad.
Multiple locations in Latakia province were subjected to Military Operations Command bombardment, with SOHR documenting military operations in Barmiya, Al-Hattaniyah, Al-Ruwaymiyah, Al-Rumaylah, Muzayraa, Al-Quayqah, and Mazar Al-Qatariyah. Several drone strikes were reported in mountainous and forested areas, suggesting that authorities suspected these regions of serving as hideouts or transit routes for militant groups. SOHR said that several residents made distress calls through human rights monitoring organization, pleading for security forces to protect them. SOHR described government bombings as "indiscriminate"
The number of civilian deaths in Sanobar was reported to have increased to at least 133.
SOHR reported at least 143 civilian deaths on 10 March, with seventy-one in Hama Governorate, forty-two in Tartus Governorate, twenty-six in Lataika Governorate, and four in Homs Governorate.
According to SOHR, Syrian Ministry of Defense-affiliated armed groups stormed Harison in the countryside of Baniyas, which had been evacuated after its residents fled into nearby farmlands following earlier attacks. SOHR said the gunmen looted several homes and set many on fire. Residents of Harison demanded immediate intervention and for UN representatives to survey the town. Almost 200 civilians in Baniyas had been killed since 7 March. Survivors reported that the perpetrators included "Syria-based jihadi foreign fighters" from surrounding provinces, along with local Sunni Muslim civilians from neighboring villages enacting reprisals for earlier massacres committed by Assad-loyalist paramilitaries against Sunni residents, including the 2013 Bayda and Baniyas massacres.
SOHR said that the delivery of food supplies and essential needs to coastal Syria and in Lataika and Jableh neighbourhoods had been ceased since the start of the reprisals, This, in conjunction with interrupted water supplies, electricity, and suspended operations of local bakeries, led to a significant deterioration in living conditions, and forced residents to send distress calls.
Dozens of displaced citizens who were taking refuge in the Russian-controlled Khmeimim Air Base in Latakia Governorate held a demonstration against the massacres committed by the Syrian Ministry of Defense and Ministry of the Interior and associated militias. SOHR said efforts by Syrian security forces to convince citizens to leave with promises of renewed security were generally unsuccessful, with many carrying placards protesting against ethnic cleansing and demanding protection from the international community to prevent further massacres.
According to a report by The Guardian citing SNHR, Syrian National Army units Hamza Division and Sultan Suleiman Shah Division were responsible for the majority of killings of civilians.
During 11 March, the SOHR documented the killings of 132 Alawite civilians, totaling 1,225 civilian deaths as a result of forty-seven separate massacres since 6 March. The bodies of eight civilians were found dumped in a well in Al-Sabinah, Rif Dimashq Governorate. The bodies had several gunshot wounds, indicating, according to SOHR, that their deaths were from a field execution.
The BBC noted the circulation of several videos on social media filled with hate speech against and incitement of violence towards Alawites.
The United Nations Human Rights Office reported that "entire families including women and children" had been killed. The United Nations Refugee Agency reported that more than 6,000 people had fled across the border into northern Lebanon by 11 March. Several families were left homeless due to the destruction and arson of their homes, with many others hiding in forested and mountainous areas in order to avoid the potential return of militants. Displaced residents faced a humanitarian crisis due to severe food, healthcare, and essential goods shortages caused by deprivation of service to the region. Several families, especially among those living in villages on the outskirts of Baniyas, were targeted with direct gunfire from far away. Civilians sheltering at the Russian-controlled Khmeimim Air Base refused to leave the grounds.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights documented numerous survivor testimonies stating that militia forces forced themselves into residences, asked the residents if they were Sunni or Alawite, and would execute those who indicated the latter.
On 12 March, SOHR said it had documented further massacres that day in which 158 civilians were killed, the vast majority Alawites: in Hama (Al-Rusafa, 62 killed, and Arza, 22), in Tartous (Baniyas, 34 deaths, and Barmaya, 15), and in Latakia (25 in various locations, including 18 in Sanobar). The death toll reached 1383 by 12 March per the SOHR, with 683 deaths in Latakia, 433 in Tartus, 255 in Hama, and 12 in Homs. 5 Christians also were killed on 12 March.
The SOHR alleged that burial of massacre victims in mass graves was occurring, asserting that the graves could be manipulated as propaganda by Ministry of Defense forces and associated militias by blaming the mass graves on remnants of the Assad regime.
Rudaw reported that local activists said the massacres had mostly stopped, and there was calm in most Alawite areas, with some bursts of violence along the Syrian-Lebanon border. It reported that the calming of the situation led to Ahmed al-Sharaa to call for national unity, and a ceasefire.
The Syria INGO Regional Forum, a coalition of eighty international non-governmental organizations operating in Syria, reported that large sections of Latakia and Tartus Governorates had no electricity, water, or food due to the deterioration in security from the use of heavy weapons against civilian areas and roadblocks preventing the flow of humanitarian aid. The forum stated that six major hospitals in the region and multiple ambulances were made nonfunctional as a result of the regional violence.
A video appearing to document a Syrian woman in Al-Qabu facing gunmen after they allegedly killed her two children in front of her was spread on Syrian social media platforms. In the video, the gunmen disparaged the women with sectarian anti-Alawite rhetoric. SOHR said that two Shiite civilians were killed: one shot to death as he was returning from work in Al-Zurzuriyah, Homs Governorate, and another found shot to death after being kidnapped a few days prior. SOHR also said that a Christian civilian was shot to death and his fiancée severely injured while driving a motorcycle in Baniyas.
The Governor of North Lebanon reported that over 6,000 Alawite refugees had escaped to Lebanese Alawite settlements near the border, with many families crossing the Nahr al-Kabir to do so.
According to the SOHR, military units affiliated Chechen, Turkestani, and Uzbek units began entering Alawite areas carrying SDF flags. The SDF have no presence in the region, and no SDF soldiers had moved from north-east Syria. According to the SOHR, the deployments are intended to create unrest in Alawite regions.
On 13 March, SOHR said it had documented 93 civilians killed in sectarian massacres, the vast majority Alawites, increasing the reported number of killed civilians to 1,476.
SOHR said that residences in Qardaha were "usurped" by armed gunmen, who then expelled those living in them. They said additional gunmen set forests around Qardaha on fire, as well as several residences and properties located near Qardaha in the Latakia Mountains, including the villages of Baqna, Bishriyeh, Salata, Istamna, and Bishlama. Several pine tree forests and properties were ravaged by the fires, with Civil Defense firefighting groups being unable to reach them. Hundreds of firefighting machines had earlier been confiscated and transported away by Assad regime-associated parties, it said. Local residents fled the villages to escape the fires and violence.
The SOHR demanded that Syrian government authorities specify their use of the term "regime remnants" regarding pro-Assad combatants, and to list their names in official media. The SOHR alleged the widespread justification of killings from pro-government media outlets which called murdered citizens who it said were confirmed to be unarmed (such as one son of Syrian woman who featured in one widely circulating video, whose sons were apparently killed in front of her in Al-Qabu), with many welcoming the new Syrian government, "regime remnants" due to their Alawite background.
On 14 March, SOHR reported 24 civilians killed in two massacres in Latakia and Tartus Governorates, increasing its reported number of deaths from sectarian killings since 6 March to 1,500. SOHR said three civilians were killed in field executions after being seized at the Mawana security checkpoint along a road between Safita and Tartus. It said one of those killed had been conscripted into Syria's compulsory military service four months prior to the fall of Assad's regime, and had been one of the former soldiers who made a legal settlement with the government.
SOHR alleged that the interim government had implemented significant restrictions on media access to the country's coastal provinces. It alleged that journalists and international media organizations were prohibited from entering the coastal areas, and that existing foreign media personnel were ordered to depart the country within thirty days. According to SOHR, only specific media organizations perceived as sympathetic to the new government were permitted to enter designated areas within the coastal region for reporting purposes. The SOHR said that sources had told it that authorities were restricting the movement of relief teams and humanitarian aid into coastal cities affected by violence. The SOHR characterized the access limitations as "part of a systematic effort to conceal evidence of war crimes and genocide," arguing that restricting journalists' movements represented "a systematic policy to obscure the facts and prevent documentation of violations." The organization said that the isolation of the sites of the massacres from the international community would "paves the way for forced demographic change and the obliteration of evidence of crimes against humanity." It expressed concern that the combination of media restrictions and limitations on humanitarian access could exacerbate suffering in affected communities, while simultaneously reducing international awareness of and response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
The United Nations Population Fund estimated that 51,000 civilians had been displaced due to the violence, including 6,000 in Lebanon. It reported that all life-saving reproductive health facilities and gender-based violence centers had been shut down in the coastal regions due to the regional instability. It also reported that due to widespread curfews and restrictions on entering the coastal regions, all humanitarian missions in the area and attempts to aid displaced families had to be suspended.
Videos recorded by members of Syria's Ministry of Defense personnel and shared by the SOHR reportedly documented a "sectarian liquidation operation" and the ongoing "hatred and lawlessness" in targeted villages. One showed several individuals identified as Ministry of Defense personnel inside an Alawite residence in an unknown village. The footage reportedly captured the body of a male victim, verbal exchanges between personnel using terminology such as "sectarian cleansing", and direct orders from one individual instructing others to kill any remaining occupants through "field execution" and to take no prisoners. One individual showed off an Alawite religious symbol to the camera. A second video allegedly showed another individual, also identified as government security personnel, inside a residence in the Safita area of Tartus countryside. In the footage, the person reportedly made explicit threats against members of the Alawite sect, vowing for revenge against the sect.
The SOHR reported receiving information demonstrating that Syrian Ministry of Defense forces deliberately set fires across the Latakia countryside. Videos sent to the SOHR showed Ministry of Defense forces setting a fire in a village in the countryside of Qardaha. The acts of arson created massive conflagrations spreading across wide areas of the Latakia countryside, resulting in the destruction of forests, agricultural land, as well as both public and private buildings and property. The fires also caused widespread destruction of forests and villages in the Qardaha countryside, with massive plumes of smoke reported. The SOHR stated that in addition to the significant threat posed to agriculture and the environment, that the fires endangered the lives of civilians who evacuated from their residences to the forests to escape systematic killings.
The SOHR alleged the existence of a coordinated online campaign attempting to reframe the massacres against Alawite civilians as bilateral conflict between opposing forces rather than targeted attacks against a specific community. It alleged that the campaign appeared to coordinate posting patterns, hashtag manipulation, and the artificial amplification of specific narratives, and particularly focused on economically disadvantaged areas with significant Alawite populations. It said the campaign appeared designed to complicate attribution of responsibility by suggesting that violence was occurring on all sides at the site of the massacres in order to help government forces evade responsibility, and that the campaign appeared to try to influence foreign governments' and organizations' understanding of events to minimize international intervention, and to create an impression of popular support for actions against Alawite communities in Damascus. The SOHR said that these narrative manipulation efforts sought to "obscure the truth about the genocide being perpetrated against the Alawites in the Sahel [coastal region]," potentially undermining accountability mechanisms for those responsible for violence. The observatory also condemned the lack of effort in stopping "hate speech and incitement to murder" since the fall of Assad.
On 16 March, SOHR said that five bodies were found with traces of gunfire in the countryside of Tartus and Homs, presumed to be civilian victims of field executions.
SOHR reported that sources told it that Russian forces agreed to bury three bodies at the Khmeimim base. One body was believed to be of a man who had been shot on Khmeimim Bridge; the two others were believed to be those of a woman and her daughter, struck by a drone in their car as they attempted to escape from ongoing violence near a shop towards the refuge of the Khmeimim base. All three bodies reportedly remained out in the open for at least two days until they were able to be brought to the base.
SOHR reported that Syrian government authorities dispatched transportation to relocate Alawite families taking refuge at the Russia-controlled Khmeimim base back to their houses. However, the families refused evacuation, citing their profound distrust of government authorities following what they described as genocidal actions against their communities and the lack of adequate protection guarantees. Many families expressed their fear of becoming victimized by continued violence upon return to their home regions, amid reports of continued targeting of civilians in the Baniyas countryside and nearby regions. Displaced persons at the base reportedly experienced severe shortages of food supplies, essential living necessities, and medical equipment and services.
SOHR reported that a document had circulated that appeared to be the Russian base operators' request to displaced persons to leave due to the return of peace; the SOHR said the document was inauthentic, and that civilians hold told it the Russian had given a free choice of whether to stay or leave, and that the base operators were continuing to provide aid.
Residents of Damascus called for Syrian government forces to reveal what happened to nineteen Alawite civilians who had been arrested on 7 March in the Anaza neighborhood of Qadam, Damascus, amid infractions committed against civilians and their residences in the area. Rumors spread that they had been executed, leading to concerns that their bodies could be secretly disposed of by security forces.
On 17 March, SOHR said massacres were committed in Latakia and Tartus mainly against Alawite Syrians, killing fifty-seven (including 26 in Sonobar), increasing the number of reported civilians massacred since 6 March to 1,557.
SOHR also claimed that internet and telecommunication services from Syriatel and MTN were suddenly shut down in Tartus and Lataika Governorates, forcing the suspension of local business and service operations. It said the shutdown exacerbated existing humanitarian adversity in the region, and alarmed locals to the possibility of a new military and security operation targeting the Syrian coastal region.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), local Alawite social media sources continued to allege acts of sectarian violence by Sunnis and government forces, although these claims could not be verified.
The advisor to the former Alawite Council president, Muhammad Nasser, claimed to Hezbollah newspaper Al-Ahed that entire families had been executed. He and local Syrian sources alleged that over 1,700 civilians had been killed.
The Alawite Islamic Council released a statement attributing responsibility for the violence to the government. The council claimed that military convoys had been dispatched to the coastal region under the pretext of targeting "regime remnants" but were instead "terrorizing and killing Syrians." The organization called for United Nations protection for the coastal territories.
The Syrian government's news agency SANA acknowledged "some individual violations" following attacks by pro-Assad forces that had resulted in police casualties, stating that authorities were "working to stop them." The agency also reported that several individuals traveled to Alawite coastal settlements to carry out revenge for attacks against the government.
The Syrian General Intelligence Service accused "former military and security leaders affiliated with the defunct regime [of being] behind the planning of these crimes" regarding the cause of the escalated violence. The Ministry of Defense stated that government units had successfully re-taken areas where pro-Assad forces attacked its forces.
Later that day the Syrian presidency announced the formation of a seven-member independent committee to investigate the incidents. This committee is tasked with examining violations against civilians, identifying those responsible, and has the authority to question individuals as part of its inquiry. They are required to submit a comprehensive report within 30 days, after which those found culpable will be referred to the judiciary for prosecution.
In a speech addressing Syrian people on 8 March, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa stated: "Some remnants of the fallen regime attempted to test the new Syria they do not understand. Today, they see it as united, from east to west, from north to south, ...". Condemning the attacks against police forces, hospitals and civilians by Assadist insurgents, al-Sharaa said: "You attacked all Syrians and made an unforgivable mistake. The riposte has come, and you have not been able to withstand it." He demanded that they surrender their arms "before it's too late." He stated that he would "continue to work towards monopolizing weapons in the hands of the state, and there will be no more unregulated weapons." Al-Sharaa urged pro-government fighters to "avoid any abuses" after reports emerged of massacres of Alawite civilians in Latakia.
On 8 March 2025, the Syrian Ministry of Defense said that it wouldn't let violations be committed by the Syrian Army's Forces or any other armed militants, and that an emergency committee was formed to refer disobeying units to a military court. The spokesman of the Ministry of Defense Hassan Abdel Ghani urged militants who have no connection to the military operation in the Syrian coast to leave the area.
On 9 March 2025, President al-Sharaa issued a decision to form an independent national committee to investigate and find the facts about the events and violations that took place in the Syrian coastal areas since 6 March 2025. The committee was tasked with uncovering the circumstances and conditions that led to those events, and the violations against civilians, government forces and security personnel that occurred, and identifying those responsible and bringing them to justice. al-Sharaa stressed that the committee, consisting of seven judges, should submit its report to the president of the Republic within a maximum period of 30 days from the date of issuance of the decision. al-Sharaa described the violence along the coast as a part of "expected challenges".
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) condemned the violence against the Alawites, with Mazloum Abdi calling on al-Sharaa to hold the perpetrators of the massacres accountable, and to stop the violence. Abdi stated extremist groups were attempting to "create sectarian conflicts and settle internal scores" across Syria.
On 10 March 2025, President al-Sharaa condemned the recent mass killings of Alawites, emphasizing that such violence threatens national unity. He pledged to hold all perpetrators accountable, including those within his own ranks, stating, "We won't accept that any blood be shed unjustly, or goes without punishment or accountability, even among those closest to us.". al-Sharaa attributed the initial violence to pro-Assad groups backed by foreign entities but acknowledged subsequent revenge attacks. He reiterated his commitment to uphold the rule of law and prevent the nation from descending into sectarian conflict. On 10 March 2025, the SDF reached an agreement with the Syrian transitional government to integrate SDF-controlled institutions into the state, open border crossings, and a commitment to combat remnants of the former regime. The DAANES later rejected a new drafted Syrian constitution, the Syrian Democratic Council warned of increased violence in Syria, sectarianism, and authoritarianism.
On 13 March 2025, Hikmat al-Hijri, the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Syria, made "unprecedentedly harsh" public statements rejecting any cooperation with the transitional government in Damascus, stating the community had "no agreement or consensus" with al-Sharaa's government. His remarks during a meeting in Suwayda Governorate characterized the administration as "extremist in every sense of the word and wanted by international justice" in reference to the massacres. He stated that the Druze community was in a state of whether to "be or not be", and declared the community's determination to pursue its own interests independently based on the rule of law.
Likewise, Bahaa al-Jamal, commander of Druze operations in Suwayda, publicly rejected Syria's new constitutional declaration. The commander criticized the exclusion of Druze representatives from the constitutional process such as al-Hajri, and asserted that the document lacked legitimacy without Druze community involvement. al-Jamal declared that the Druze community did not recognize Ahmad al-Sharaa as president of Syria, stating that they did not recognize a "terrorist" who was not elected through free and fair elections. He specifically condemned the massacres of Alawites, emphasizing that the victims were unarmed civilians and not "remnants of the [Assad] regime" as stated in the official narratives of HTS and al-Sharaa. He stated that the Druze had substantial military capability with "thousands of military personnel," and stated that they had the right to defend themselves if confronted by government forces.
On 9 March, activists in Damascus organized a "silent demonstration", mourning the mass killing of citizens and the deaths of government security forces during the clashes, and advocating for national unity. Approximately several dozen people gathered for this memorial protest, with some participants displaying placards stating "Syrian lives are not cheap."
This initial gathering was soon confronted by counter-demonstrators who chanted anti-Alawite sentiments and called for a "Sunni Muslim state." Physical altercations erupted between the opposing groups of protesters, with counter-protesters accusing initial protesters of ignoring the slaughter of Sunni Muslims under Assad's regime. Members of the original protests responded by stating that they could settle "your score with Assad, we have nothing to do with his crimes." Security forces intervened to end the confrontation, firing warning shots into the air to disperse the crowds.
Also on 9 March, activists in the mainly-Druze city of Suwayda organized a demonstration in Al-Karamah Square condemning the sectarian-oriented massacres against coastal Syrians, and demanded an end to state violence and reprisals towards civilians. Many protesters carried banners juxtaposing the then-ongoing massacres alongside prior massacres under the Assad regime. Several protesters and residents articulated that it is a crime to kill civilians no matter who the perpetrator was, and insisted that the Syrian revolution against the Assad regime was for "a dignified life, not for revenge".
Protests occurred in SDF cities in Hasakah and Qamishli on 12 March, holding banners condemning the recent violence, and photos of recent violence. Protestors called for the perpetrators of the violence to be held accountable and protection of Alawite areas.
According to Thameen Al-Kheetan, the spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "entire families" have been killed, with Alawites targeted, in particular. The Office reported receiving numerous accounts of large-scale killings in Alawite-majority towns and villages, where entire households—including women, children, and individuals not involved in the fighting—were massacred. Witnesses described assailants raiding homes and questioning residents whether they were Alawite or Sunni, deciding whether to kill or spare them based on their Alawite or Sunni identity. Some accounts also spoke of men being shot in front of their families.
In Hatay and Adana provinces in Southern Turkey, multiple Alevi advocacy groups organized protests against the mass killings. Many speakers accused the Turkish government of facilitating crimes against humanity as a result of it granting military support to Syria. Protesters also condemned the perceived silence by Turkish officials and the public regarding the acts, and called upon both to resist the present Syrian government and support the Syrian people. The Democratic Alevi Federation and the Democratic Alevi Women's Union released a joint statement in support of the Syrian Alawite community, condemning Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Syrian National Army, and the Islamic State for carrying out a genocide against the Alawites.
Protestors in Turkey condemned the Turkish government for its support for the Syrian Armed Forces' actions against Alawites which they said amounted to crimes against humanity. Samandağ Mayor Emrah Karaçay said, "The massacres in Syria are moving toward genocide."
Protests took place during the evening of 12 March in the primarily Shia town of Al-Kadhimiya, located in northern Baghdad, Iraq. The protests denounced the crimes committed by Syrian forces and urged the international community to stop ongoing genocidal acts.
On 15 March, 100–150 protesters held a demonstration outside the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, demanding action against the persecution of Syrian Alawites and Christians. Protesters carried placards containing phrases such as "Just one of the massacres" and "Stop the slaughter, no more bloodshed". The protest occurred simultaneously with and without association to another demonstration in favor of former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, following his arrest. During the protest, about six to seven counter-protesters intruded on the demonstration, resulting in physical confrontations between both parties and requiring police to break up the hostilities.
On 10 March, Human Rights Watch deputy Middle East and North Africa director Adam Coogle lamented the onset of the sectarian murders despite the fact that "Syria's new leaders promised to break with the horrors of the past". He stated that no peace and stability in Syria would last if the government did not hold accountable every individual who committed human rights abuses, no matter their background or current allegiance.
On 10 March, MENA Regional Director of Amnesty International Heba Morayef demanded that the Syrian government immediately act to stop extrajudicial killings and other acts of injustice against citizens, bemoaning that Syrian communities "once again are being forced to endure unimaginable loss" through the repetition of "past cycles of atrocities". She emphasized that the Syrian government's failure to immediately act and carry out effective investigations without bias or favoritism would invigorate further acts of violence by parties with impunity. She believed that there would be no reason for Syrian civilians to trust any findings of the government if the process was not fully transparent or not conducted with independent international organizations. She stated that President al-Sharaa's words vowing justice against perpetrators would mean little without the participation of victims, an upholding of equal human rights for all communities, and for making sure that "never again really means never again".
On 10 March, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor released a statement saying the arbitrary arrest campaigns leading to extra-judicial executions and torture by Syrian government forces had no justifiable excuse. The organization said that the crimes driven by revenge were not justice, and instead "fuel for an endless cycle of violence" requiring reconciliation and transitional justice in addition to legal accountability to ensure justice and the prevention of future crimes.
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention issued an alert on 12 March about the risk of genocide that the violence could lead to.
On 10 March, the Muslim Alawite Advocacy Group in Australia called on the Australian government and the general public to condemn the massacres, and to show solidarity with minority groups.
On 10 March, Christian Solidarity International formally issued a genocide warning for regions of Syria under the control of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, describing the massacres as an "orgy of targeted killings, accompanied by dehumanizing hate speech." The organization demanded that members of the United Nations, especially those of the Security Council, to intervene under obligation of international law to stop genocidal acts and protect targeted civilians.