Syrian-Government Aligned Forces Massacre Alawites, Face Reprimand

Syrian Armed Forces convene in Syrian coastal town (Nara & Dvids Public Domain Archive)

Almost 13,000 Syrians have fled across the border into Lebanon in the wake of a series of March massacres carried out by loyalists of the new Syrian government.

Between March 6 and March 10, loyalists to Syria’s ousted Assad regime launched several attacks against government forces loyal to new Syrian leader Ahmed al-Shaara. In retaliation, militants who back the new government, acting with questionable authority on its behalf, massacred 745 civilians who belonged to Assad's Alawite Shia Muslim sect. The Syrian Network for Human Rights also identified at least 25 sites across Syria’s Alawite-dominated coastal region where those same forces carried out executions against civilians. These mass killings could constitute war crimes under international law.

They were also not isolated. For instance, CNN counted a minimum of 84 corpses in one of several videos they published showcasing a massacre by government-aligned forces in the village of al-Sanobar during the same period, where locals reported 200 deaths. The United Nations’ Genocide Watch has also confirmed an additional 111 civilian murders at Syrian security forces’ hands since March 13, although deaths are likely much higher. UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 132 civilian deaths on March 18 alone. 

Responding to these massacres, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch delivered a sermon on March 9 in Damascus, claiming that many innocent Christians were also killed alongside the Alawites in the coastal region, France 24 reports. In 2011, before Syria’s civil war began, the country hosted 1.5 million Christians, a number that has since shrunk to 300,000. Many Christians fear for their safety under Syria’s new regime, as the now-ousted Assad family had long positioned itself as a protector of the group, while Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was once a member of the anti-Christian al-Qaeda terrorist group. Many wonder if, now that rebels have driven Assad’s forces out of Syria, the country's remaining Christians will be forced to flee. 

Many of these incidents seem to not be officially sponsored by the new government, though. Syrian leader Ahmed al-Shaara vowed on Sunday to "hold accountable, firmly and without leniency, anyone who was involved in the bloodshed of civilians... or who overstepped the powers of the state.” Many of the perpetrators of the massacres were militant forces that were absorbed into Syria’s new military, so they were not necessarily carrying out orders from higher up. 

European governments appear to be accepting the government's denials of culpability, as evidenced by several shows of good faith to open diplomatic channels. Germany, as an example, has reopened its embassy in Damascus after being closed for 13 years. Donors raised $6.3 billion at a European Union-run conference on March 17 for Syria's new government. It’s currently unclear whether Syria’s new Islamist government will live up to its promises to protect the country's religious minorities. Regardless, the situation in the Northwestern regions remains tense.