A Syrian war monitor reported on Saturday that more than 300 civilians from the Alauita minority have been killed in recent days by security forces and their allies, as the authorities collide with loyal militants to the former government of Bashar al-Assad.
The restoration of security has been one of the most complex tasks for the new authorities of Syria, installed after the forces expelled Assad, a Alauita, in a ray offensive in December.
Now they face their most fierce attacks by members of the Alauita minority of the Assad clan and have launched an important counter -peer in the Mediterranean heart of the ethnic group.
Mortal clashes on Thursday triggered the security operation, after previous tensions in the area.
The Syrian Human Rights Observatory reported on Saturday that “340 Alauitan civilians were killed in the coastal regions of Syria and Latakia mountains by security forces and allied groups” since then.
The Observatory indicated that they were killed in “executions” carried out by security personnel or pro -government combatants and accompanied by “looting of households and properties.”
Civil deaths contribute the general cost to 553 people, including 93 members of the new government’s security forces and 120 Pro-Assad combatants, as shown by the observatory data.
The murders followed the clashes caused by the arrest of an individual sought by security forces in a predominantly Alauito village, the observatory reported.
The monitor said that there had been a “return to calm” in the region on Saturday, but that security forces continued radical operations and deploy reinforcements.
Early Saturday, State News Agency Fury They reported that the security forces had repelled an “attack by the remains of the expelled regime” in the National Hospital in the coastal city of Latakia.
Called to give up
In a speech on Friday, the interim president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, urged the insurgents to “leave their weapons and surrender before it is too late.”
Western powers and residents of Syria have emphasized the need for unity in the new Syria, which seeks funds to rebuild a nation devastated by years of civil war under Assad.
The coastal region has taken over the fears of reprisals against the alauitas for the brutal rule of the Assad family, which included torture and generalized disappearances.
The Observatory based in Britain has reported multiple “massacres” in recent days, with women and children among the dead.
“The vast majority of the victims were summarily executed by elements affiliated with the Ministry of Defense and Interior,” the Rights Group said Friday.
The observatory and activists published images that show dozens of bodies with civil clothing stacked outside a house, with nearby blood stains and women who cry.
Other videos seemed to show men with military outfits shooting people at a short distance.
AFP He could not independently verify the images.
The United Nations envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, denounced “very worrying reports of civilian casualties.”
He called all sides that refrain from actions that could “destabilize Syria and jeopardize a credible and inclusive political transition.”
Aron Lund from Century International Think Tank said violence was “a bad omen.” The new government lacks the tools, incentives and the local support base to commit to discontent alautes, he said.
“All they have is repressive power, and much of that […] It is composed of jihadist fans who think that alauitas are enemies of God. “
