Witnesses Report Sectarian Arrests and Killings of Alawite Men in Damascus
As coastal rebellion erupts, armed men storm Alawite homes in Damascus, abducting and killing unarmed civilians amid fears of widening sectarian strife.
Watan-By midnight on March 6, amid a wave of sectarian violence sweeping western Syria, dozens of witnesses told Reuters that armed men stormed into Alawite families’ homes in the capital, Damascus, and arrested more than twenty unarmed men.
Among those detained in the Al-Qadam neighborhood of Damascus were a retired teacher, an engineering student, and a car repair technician—all from the Alawite sect, the minority group to which ousted President Bashar al-Assad belongs.
Earlier that day, a group of pro-Assad Alawites launched an armed rebellion in the coastal regions, roughly 320 kilometers to the northwest. This was followed by a wave of retaliatory killings in the area, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Alawites.
Alawite Men Abducted in Damascus Amid Rising Sectarian Tensions
Interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa told Reuters that he sent his forces the following day to stop the violence in the Syrian coastal area, but noted that some militants had rushed to the region to confront the rebellion without authorization from the Ministry of Defense.
Amid fears of a broader sectarian conflict spreading across Syria, the Sharaa government emphasized in the aftermath of the violence that the killings were geographically limited, and it appointed a fact-finding committee to investigate the “coastal events.”
However, testimony from dozens of witnesses in Damascus suggests that sectarian violence did occur in the southern outskirts of the capital, just a few kilometers from the presidential palace. Details of the alleged raids, abductions, and killings had not previously been reported.
In the Al-Qadam neighborhood of Damascus, Reuters spoke with one resident who said that masked gunmen kidnapped his cousin, 48-year-old telecom engineer Ihsan Zaidan, in the early hours of March 7.
“They were knocking on the door of any Alawite house and taking the men inside,” the resident said.
“They took him just because he was Alawite.”
All witnesses who spoke to Reuters requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation.
Alawite Deaths and Disappearances Raise Questions in Damascus Raids
The Al-Qadam neighborhood is known to be home to many Alawite families. Witnesses reported that at least 25 men were abducted.
Relatives and neighbors confirmed that at least eight of them were later found dead, saying they had either seen photos of the bodies or found them nearby.
The fate of the remaining men remains unknown.
Four of the witnesses said some of the armed men who entered Al-Qadam identified themselves as members of the General Security Directorate, a new Syrian agency that includes former opposition fighters.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, under which the General Security Directorate operates, told Reuters that security forces did not target Alawites specifically, adding that weapons were being confiscated from all sects.
The spokesperson did not respond to further questions, including why unarmed men were arrested during the raids.
