BEIRUT: As authorities battle insurgents loyal to Bashar Assad’s old regime, a Syrian Arab Republic war monitor said on Saturday that security forces and their allies have killed over 300 Alawite civilians in recent days. One of the most difficult jobs facing Syria’s new leaders, who took power after Islamist-led forces overthrew Assad, who is Alawite himself, in a rapid offensive in December, has been reestablishing security.
They have launched a significant counter-offensive in the Mediterranean heartland of the Alawite minority, who are currently launching their most intense attacks to date. Following earlier tensions in the area, the security operation was prompted by deadly skirmishes on Thursday. Since then, “340 Alawite civilians have been killed in the coastal regions of Syria and the Latakia mountains by security forces and allied groups,” according to a report released on Saturday by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
According to the Observatory, they were killed in “executions” that were carried out by pro-government fighters or security forces and included “looting of homes and properties.”
According to figures from the Observatory, the civilian casualties raise the total number of fatalities to 553, which includes 120 pro-Assad fighters and 93 members of the security forces of the new administration. According to the Observatory, the murders came after skirmishes in a village with a large Alawite population that started when security personnel apprehended a wanted person.
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