After the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, the situation in the country remains unstable. As a result of fierce fighting between security forces and supporters of the overthrown regime of Bashar al-Assad, more than a thousand people died. About this reported Syrian Center for Human Rights. Among the dead are 745 civilians, 125 security forces and 148 militants. Electricity and water were cut off in large areas around Latakia due to the fighting. These events became one of the bloodiest episodes in the last 14 years of the conflict.
Agency Associated Press reports that the events surrounding the killing of members of the Alawite minority by armed Sunni Muslims loyal to the government were a major blow to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the faction that led the overthrow of the former government. As you know, the Alawites made up a large part of Assad’s support base for decades. Residents of Alawite villages and towns told the Associated Press that militants shot their neighbors right in the streets or near their homes. In many areas, Alawite houses were looted and then set on fire.
Residents of the coastal region reported AP, that thousands of Alawites were forced to flee to the mountains in search of safety. They asked not to be named for fear of becoming the next victims of the attacks.
Official sources of the Syrian government limited themselves to short statements, calling these events “isolated violations” in the fight against the “remains of the regime” and did not provide detailed information about the executions of Alawites.
Meanwhile, activists have shared numerous videos on social media showing gunmen executing men and even entire families. The Syrian Monitoring Center checked these materials, collected testimonies from the relatives of the victims and confirmed the authenticity of some of the footage. The video shows the accumulation of bodies, as well as the shooting of civilians at close range.
“The remnants of the regime are testing the new Syria”
The Syrian state news agency SANA published a pathetic performance interim president of Syria Ahmed al-Sharaa, who tried to prove that “everything is calm” in the country. Instead, the cynicism of his speech points to a number of contradictions between what is stated and reality.
Propaganda of unity and control
The president stated that the new Syria is one and indivisible, and the people and the government work together. It is obvious that this is rather a declaration of what is desired than a reflection of reality. Real events, in particular attacks on Alawites and mass repressions, testify to the persistence of division in society.
Legitimization of violence against the remnants of the regime
The speech repeatedly mentions the “remnants of the deposed regime”, who are accused of destabilization attempts. At the same time, military operations by government forces were accompanied by mass massacres of Alawites – which raises questions about the true purpose of the operation. The president called for avoiding excessive violence, but at the same time justified tough measures.
An attempt to justify mass murder
The president emphasized that the government troops act according to the principles of morality, but the murders of Alawites, which became known to the world, testify to the opposite. His call for humane treatment of prisoners looks more like an attempt to justify violent actions and level criticism.
In general, the speech is aimed at legitimizing the harsh purge, which the authorities position as a fight against the remnants of the old regime. At the same time, this does not change the fact that the persecution of minorities continues in Syria, which contradicts the claims of unity and stability.
As reported by the agency Reuters, Syria announced the end of the military operation aimed at the remnants of the Bashar al-Assad regime. Defense Ministry spokesman Hassan Abdul Ghani said government forces had “neutralized” these groups in seven districts. He emphasized that the country is “paving the way to return to normal life and consolidation of security and stability.” Plans were also developed to address future threats.
Israel’s reaction
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said in a statement that the latest violence in Syria demonstrates that the country’s new rulers “remain jihadists, even if some of them wear suits.” He emphasized that Syria needs to “draw conclusions from what happened and develop strategies for the protection of minorities.”
In the context of regional politics, Reuters previously reported that Israel is lobbying the US to preserve a weak, decentralized Syria. Among other things, this involves maintaining the presence of Russian military bases to counter Turkey’s growing influence in the region.
Amid the escalation of the conflict, the UN Security Council held a closed session on Monday at the initiative of Russia and the US to discuss the escalation of violence in Syria. At the meeting, US and Russian representatives expressed concern about the escalation of violence and discussed possible ways to protect minorities in Syria. However, specific decisions or statements based on the results of the meeting have not yet been made public.
Who are the Alawites?
They are a religious minority that make up approximately 10-12% of Syria’s population, concentrated mainly in coastal areas such as Latakia and Tartus. Although they are often classified as part of the Shia branch of Islam, their beliefs and practices differ significantly from traditional Shiism and Sunnism. Alawites believe in the divinity of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, and have syncretic religious practices that combine elements of Islam, Christianity, and other faiths. Historically, the Alawites have been a marginalized group in Syria. However, their situation changed after the Assad family came to power. Hafez al-Assad, an Alawite by origin, staged a military coup in 1970 and became the president of Syria. His son, Bashar al-Assad, inherited power after his father’s death. The Assad regime relied on the support of the Alawite community, which gained significant influence in the country’s military and security structures.
During the civil war that began in 2011, the Alawites became one of the main groups that supported the regime of Bashar al-Assad. This led to the fact that they became the object of attacks by anti-government forces, mainly Sunni. Many Alawites were forced to leave their homes, becoming internally displaced or emigrating to other countries. Their religio-political position has made them one of the most vulnerable population groups in modern Syria.
It is worth noting that not all Alawites unanimously support the Assad regime. In 2016, a number of leaders of the Alawite community tried to distance themselves from the president’s policies, advocating the separation of religion from the state and the equality of all citizens before the law.
As such, the Alawites play an important role in the political and social life of Syria, and their history and current situation are complex and multifaceted.
Amid the ongoing hostilities, dozens of civilians, as well as members of the former regime and their families, have taken refuge at the Russian military base in Khmeimim, which is located in rural Latakia. This is reported Al Jazeera.
Why has the situation escalated only now?
In January, paying tribute to the new Syrian government, expert V. Lihachev in a review for the “Dzerkalo Tyzhnya” edition noted that the country avoided the worst scenario – “disintegration and plunging into bloody chaos, as happened in Libya after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.” At that time, isolated cases of violence and lynching against Alawites were recorded, but no mass massacre was observed. V. Lihachev called the Christmas celebration, when only one Christmas tree was burned, a test of the country’s maturity. It is obvious that today’s situation does not fit into the vision of the new Syrian regime at that time.
After the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, the situation in Syria remained relatively stable for several months. However, at the beginning of March 2025, there was a sharp escalation of the conflict, especially in the western provinces of Latakia and Tartus. This aggravation was the result of several key factors:
Activation of pro-Assad rebels.
On March 6, 2025, a large and coordinated attack by supporters of the ousted Assad regime took place in the city of Jabla, near Latakia. These forces, in particular the newly formed “Military Council for the Liberation of Syria”, launched attacks on government positions, resulting in significant casualties among the security forces.
Ethnic tension.
The regions of Latakia and Tartus are the traditional centers of residence of the Alawite minority, to which Assad’s family belonged. After his overthrow, the Alawites found themselves in a vulnerable position, leading to increased tensions and violence between different ethnic and religious groups.
Lack of full control of the new government.
Despite the formation of a transitional government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, the central government was unable to establish full control over all regions of the country. This created a power vacuum that the remnants of pro-Assad forces took advantage of to organize uprisings and attacks.
External influences and interests
As the publication writes The World, after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad on December 8, 2024, many regime officers and high-ranking officials took refuge in the mountainous regions of Syria near the Mediterranean Sea. This led to sporadic clashes with the new government. However, the latest attacks, according to security forces spokesman Nasser Zidane, were “deliberate, well-coordinated and planned”. The attackers, armed with modern weapons and foreign communication systems, simultaneously attacked several objects.
Analysts suggest that these attacks could have been supported by external forces, given the level of equipment of the attackers. There is a possibility that among them were foreign fighters or representatives of radical groups seeking to destabilize the region.
These developments have heightened fears of growing external influence in the Syrian conflict, as well as the possible coordination of attacks by interested regional players such as Turkey or individual radical groups. Various regional and global players have their own interests in Syria. For example, Russia, which has been Assad’s main ally, wants to keep its strategic military bases in the country. Turkey has previously allowed Islamic militants to cross the border, and some reports suggest that Turkish intelligence services may have helped fuel the conflict between Syrian groups.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia have in the past provided significant financial support to Syrian opposition forces, particularly those opposed to the Assad regime. It is possible that private sponsors in these countries may have continued to finance armed groups fighting against the Alawites, seeing them as the bearers of Assad’s power.
Israel is interested in maintaining destabilization in Syria to reduce the threat from pro-Iranian forces. Although it has not been implicated in attacks on Alawites, Israel’s political and military pressure on Iran and its allies in the region may indirectly contribute to the escalation of inter-religious violence.
Eyewitnesses report that among the attackers of the Alawites were people of other nationalities. This may indicate the presence of foreign fighters fighting as part of Islamist groups such as remnants of ISIS, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or other radical Sunni organizations.
Thus, a combination of internal factors, such as ethnic tensions and the activation of remnants of pro-Assad forces, together with external influences, led to a sharp escalation of the situation in Syria three months after the overthrow of the Assad regime.
