Syria’s Coastal Region Engulfed in Bloodshed as Armed Groups Target Alawite Communities

Watan-Dozens of messages from various armed factions circulated on social media, calling for a mass mobilization to suppress a growing rebellion by supporters of ousted and widely despised former President Bashar al-Assad. The messages, shared by hundreds of thousands of Syrians, fueled a surge of fighters heading toward Syria’s coastal region, home to the Alawite minority from which Assad hails.

Hundreds of armed pickup trucks, along with tanks and heavy weaponry, flooded the highways toward the Alawite stronghold, seeking revenge against former regime loyalists, mostly Alawite officers who had served under Assad. Reports indicate that some of these former regime supporters launched hit-and-run attacks against the new Islamist-led government in an attempt to stage a counter-coup.

Mass Killings of Alawite Civilians

In the early hours of March 7, pro-government forces attacked the Alawite-majority neighborhood of Al-Qusour in Baniyas, a key entry point along the main highway, firing into residential buildings and killing entire families. Similar attacks occurred in several towns and villages further north along the coast, including Mukhtariyah, Al-Shir, Shalfatiyah, and Barabshbu, all of which have a significant Alawite population.

Hassan Harfoush, an Alawite from Al-Qusour now living in Iraq, recounted his last phone call with his family before his parents, brother, sister, and her two children were shot dead in their home on the afternoon of March 7.

“I heard children screaming, gunfire, and my father trying to calm them down,” he said.

“My father told me: Pray for us. They have arrived.”

Harfoush had fled Syria months earlier at his father’s urging, fearing a wave of sectarian retribution against Alawites. “He told me that at least one of us should survive.”

Over six days, reports from Reuters and multiple human rights monitoring groups indicated that hundreds of Alawite civilians had been killed. By December, just three months after Assad’s ousting and the end of his brutal rule, parts of western Syria had descended into a cycle of bloodshed driven by revenge.

Revenge and Power Struggles

According to Reuters, the details of these mass killings were gathered through interviews with over 25 survivors and relatives of victims, as well as drone footage, dozens of social media videos, and statements posted online.

It remains unclear whether security forces had a coordinated plan to attack Alawite areas or target civilians. The new Syrian government, now led by former members of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)—a Sunni Islamist group with origins in al-Qaeda—declined to comment.

Interim Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa condemned the mass killings of Alawite civilians, calling them a threat to his efforts to reunite the war-torn country. He vowed to hold those responsible accountable, even if they were among his closest allies.

“We rose against Assad’s regime in support of the oppressed,” Al-Sharaa told Reuters in an interview. “We will not accept a single drop of blood being spilled unjustly, nor will we let these crimes go unpunished—no matter who is responsible.”

Al-Sharaa accused a former military unit loyal to Assad’s brother and foreign actors of instigating violence in the coastal region. However, he acknowledged that “many factions entered the Alawite region, leading to widespread violations.”

“This became an opportunity for revenge,” he said, referring to long-held grievances among Sunni communities against Assad’s Alawite-dominated rule.

Online Calls for Mobilization and Violence

Several pro-Assad supporters who had posted inflammatory messages online inciting violence were contacted by Reuters, but they did not respond.

Human rights groups, including the UK-based Syrian Network for Human Rights, estimated that over 1,000 people were killed in the violence—more than half by forces aligned with the new government, while others were killed by pro-Assad loyalists.

Of the victims, 595 were civilians and unarmed combatants, the vast majority of them Alawites. Using geolocation techniques, Reuters verified more than 120 bodies found at six different locations in Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartous.

The ousting of Assad had paved the way for a government led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a Sunni Islamist faction that emerged from the war after splitting from al-Qaeda. For decades, Syria’s Sunni majority—comprising over 70% of the population—felt politically and economically marginalized under the rule of Bashar and his father, Hafez al-Assad, who brutally suppressed Sunni-led uprisings.

The new government now faces the challenge of integrating dozens of armed factions, formed during Syria’s long civil war, into a unified security force. This includes fighters recruited into the newly established General Security Administration (GSA). Foreign fighters have also filled the security vacuum left by Assad’s dismantled military defense structure.

Who Carried Out the Killings?

Witnesses described the mass killings as being largely carried out by armed groups allied with the new government, including forces from the General Security Administration (GSA).

In one Facebook video, verified by Reuters, armed men wearing military uniforms with GSA insignia were seen participating in attacks in the coastal city of Jableh. The GSA did not respond to requests for comment.

A GSA fighter told Reuters that he and dozens of his unit members had been deployed to the coastal region on March 6 to root out pro-Assad fighters. He claimed that, to his knowledge, GSA forces did not target civilians but admitted that the mobilization had drawn in undisciplined fighters who carried out widespread killings.

“Anyone with a weapon joined in,” he said.

Mass Execution and Looting

Assad’s 24-year rule left behind a deeply fractured country. His flight to Moscow in December marked the end of his regime, but the legacy of sectarian hatred remained. Many Sunni Syrians held deep-seated resentment against Alawites, particularly those who remained loyal to Assad.

On March 6, tensions escalated when the new government announced that pro-Assad fighters, led by former Alawite military officers, had launched a wave of deadly attacks, killing 13 government security personnel in Latakia province. No group claimed responsibility.

In response, mass mobilization calls were issued across Facebook, WhatsApp, and Sunni mosques in major cities like Damascus and Aleppo, where imams openly called for jihad against Alawite insurgents.

Drone footage reviewed by Reuters showed hundreds of vehicles—including pickup trucks carrying armed men, military vehicles, and at least two tanks—converging on the coastal region near Mukhtariyah on the morning of March 7.

The United Nations Human Rights Office told Reuters that its investigations found that the mobilization to support security forces included both armed groups and civilians and happened “at an alarmingly rapid pace.”

A UN spokesperson stated:”Many of the attackers were masked, making it extremely difficult to determine who was responsible. The situation was chaotic.”

Door-to-Door Killings

According to six survivors and relatives of victims, some of the worst massacres took place in the Al-Qusour neighborhood, where Harfoush’s family was killed.

One resident described how fighters first bombarded residential buildings with heavy artillery and anti-aircraft guns before sweeping through the streets, killing civilians.

“About 15 armed men stormed my house in three different waves,” he said, adding that he identified some of them as General Security Administration members due to their uniforms. Others appeared to be Afghan fighters.

He believes his Christian identity saved him and his family, as a GSA officer intervened to prevent the others from killing them.

His neighbors were not as fortunate.

Multiple residents reported entire families being slaughtered, including a three-year-old child. Another survivor said armed men forced people out of their homes and executed them on the streets, including his 28-year-old nephew.

Survivors also recounted widespread looting, with fighters stealing vehicles, cash, and jewelry from residents. Homes, shops, and restaurants were set on fire.

Reuters could not independently verify all these accounts.

Videos posted online in the days following the massacre showed rows of bodies in villages like Mukhtariyah and Shalfatiyah. One video from March 7 depicted at least 27 men—many elderly—lying dead along a roadside in Mukhtariyah. Another, filmed in Shalfatiyah, showed 10 bodies, still bleeding, scattered in front of a pharmacy and along a street.