Syrians describe terror as Alawite families killed in their homes

The temporary leader of Syria appealed to the unit, as killings continued in violence and revenge in the areas loyal to former leader Bashar al -Assad on Sunday.

According to what was reported, hundreds of people have fled their homes in the coastal provinces in Latakia and Tartus – Assad’s support strongholds.

Local population described the scenes of looting and mass killing, including children.

In the Hi Al -Koussor, mostly in the Yiite neighborhood in the coastal city of Barias, residents say the streets are full of scattered bodies, stacked and blood covered. Witnesses said that men of all ages have died there.

The buffer sect is a branch of Shiite Islam and constitutes about 10 % of the population of Syria, and it is the majority of Muslims. The lion belongs to the sect.

People were very afraid so that they would not search for their windows on Friday. The internet connection is unstable, but when connected, they learned about the death of their neighbors from Facebook posts.

A man, Iman Fares, told the BBC that he was rescued with his last prison. He had posted a video on his Facebook account in August 2023 criticizing Assad for his corrupt rule. He was arrested shortly after, and the Islamic -led forces were not released from the release of the prisoners after the autumn of Assad last December.

The fighters who raided the streets of Hi Koussor knew about death, so he had survived death but not looting. They took his cars and continued to raid other homes.

Mr. Faris told me by phone: “They were strangers, and I could not identify their identity or language, but it seems that they were Ozbik or Chechnya.”

“There were also some Syrians with them, but not from official security. Some civilians were also among those who had killed,” he added.

Mr. Fares said that he saw the families killed in their homes, and women and children are covered with blood. Some families ran to the roofs of the houses to hide, but they did not save the bloodshed. “It is terrible,” he said.

The Syrian Observatory in the United Kingdom for Human Rights has documented more than 740 civilians who were killed in coastal cities in Latakia, Jableh and Banias. 300 other members of the security forces and the remains of the Assad regime were reported in the clashes.

The BBC was unable to independently verify the death toll.

Mr. Fares said that things settled when the Syrian army and security forces arrived in the city of Baniyas. He said that they paid other factions outside the city and presented corridors for families to reach safe areas.

Ali, a Paryas resident, asked us not to use his full name, Mr. Fares’s account. Ali, who lived in Koussor with his 14 -year -old wife and daughter, fled his home with the help of the security forces.

“They came to our building,” he said.

“They were after the money. They expelled the door of our neighbor as he took his car, money, and all the gold or precious things he had at his home. But he was not killed.”

Ali and his family were captured by his Sunni neighbors, who follow a different branch of Islam and reside with them now. He told me: “We have lived together for years, intellectuals, Sunnis and Christians. We have never tested this.”

“The Sunnis rushed to protect the upper killing and now the official forces of the city have become to restore the regime.”

Ali said that the families were transferred to a school in a neighborhood that mostly stretches, where they will be protected until the members of the factions that carried out the killings from Barias are expelled.

Violence began on Thursday after the loyalists – who refused to abandon weapons – the security forces throughout the coastal cities in Latakia and Jableh, killed dozens of them.

Ghaith Dala, a former general in the Assad Army, announced a new rebellion against the current government, saying that he was establishing the “Military Council for the Liberation of Syria.”

Some reports indicate that former security officers in the Assad regime, who refused to give up weapons, constitute a mountain resistance group.

Mr. Fares said that most of the Al -Alaat community rejects them and blames Dala and other loyal loyal loyalists for violence.

“They benefit from the bloodshed that happens. What we need now is the official security of recovery and the trial of the killers from the factions who have killed the country until the country regains safety,” he said.

But others blame the interim president, Ahmed Al -Shara, saying that he dismantled security, army and police institutions in Syria without any clear strategy to deal with thousands of officers and unemployed individuals.

Some of these individuals, especially among the police, have nothing to do with murder during the Assad regime. The new authorities also rejected thousands of public employees of their work.

With 90 % of the population of Syria who live below the poverty line and thousands without income, this is fertile land of the rebellion.

There is a division of views in Syria about what is happening. The broader community condemns the killing of any civilians and demonstrations in Damascus to mourning deaths and condemning violence.

But over the past two days, there have been calls for “jihad” in different parts of Syria. Paryas residents said that alongside the factions, there were some civilians who were armed and joined the killing.

The Sunni majority in Syria faced atrocities at the hands of the Assad regime forces over the past 13 years. This sectarian hatred, which it mainly feeds towards the higher minority, where members of society belong to war crimes.

According to human rights groups, there is evidence that high security officers participated in the killing and torture of thousands of Syrians, most of them Sunni Muslims, during the Assad regime.

These are members of the army and security forces who were often killed by Sunni society and now some call in Sunni society to take revenge, but the president called for calm.

Shay, whose Islamic forces overthrew the overthrow of Assad three months ago, must now balance safety for all while following justice for the crimes of the Assad regime and its followers.

While he has authority over some of the forces that helped him in power, some factions are clearly out of his will. These factions also include foreign fighters with an extremist Islamic agenda.

For Syria’s leadership to a safe and democratic future, many argue that Shara needs to end the presence of any foreign fighters and a constitution that protects the rights of all Syrians, regardless of their background or religion.

While it is seen as working for the legal framework of such a constitution, controlling violent factions and expelling foreign fighters will prove a major challenge.