According to Alawite activists, members of their community had experienced targeted violence and persecution since Assad's fall, particularly in rural areas of Homs and Latakia Governorates.
[16] On 14 January 2025, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that Alawite civilians of Tasnin located in the Homs countryside were targeted by gunmen attributing themselves to the Military Operations Command.
Multiple villagers and elders in Tasnin and nearby settlements attempted to report the massacre to Syrian government police and security forces, but did not receive any response mentioning the violence.
[17] On 23 January 2025, the SOHR reported that the Military Operations Command launched a large-scale security campaign in collaboration with local gunmen in the villages of al-Hamam, al-Ghozaylah, and al-Gharbiyah in the countryside west of Homs.
[18][19] Escalations of violence towards civilians commenced on the evening of 6 March, following an attack on interim government security forces near Jableh by pro-Assad fighters, including the Military Council for the Liberation of Syria.
Thousands of fighters from Islamist groups, including pro-Turkish factions from the Free Syrian Army, arrived from Idlib, Aleppo, and Deir ez-Zor to coastal Syria with many local residents joining.
Now it’s a battle for purification [of Syria],” while a man in military gear stated, “To the Alawites, we’re coming to slaughter you and your fathers” and “we will show you the [strength] of the Sunnis.”[20] One civilian death was reported in Homs Governorate.
[8] Multiple sources released footage showing deceased individuals in civilian attire collected in a residential courtyard, with blood visible in the vicinity and women audibly mourning.
Additional video evidence reportedly showed armed individuals in military uniforms directing three people to move on the ground before shooting them at close range.
[citation needed] By the early hours of 8 March, thirty-eight civilians in Al-Mukhtariya were reported to have been executed by members of the Syrian Ministry of Defense and General Security Service forces.
Twenty-four civilians in Al-Shir were killed in firing squad field executions by government defense and security forces, twenty-two in Qurfays, seven in the Al-Haffah district, and seven more in Beit Ana and Dweir Baabda in the Jableh countryside.
[citation needed] Thousands of Alawite civilians and their families fled to the Khmeimim Air Base – still under Russian control – in Latakia province to seek refuge.
Several armed groups coming from neighboring Sunni settlements alleged by survivors to be associated with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) reportedly "started killing everyone in the houses" of Sharifa, while setting fire to and looting residences.
A list of names of over 130 civilian victims in Muzayraa, over fifty from Snobar, forty-two from Ain al-Arous, and eleven in Bustan al-Basha was distributed by surviving locals.
[34] Lebanese lawmaker Sajih Attieh reported that "very large waves" of displaced Syrians evacuated to five or six Alawite villages in Akkar District, estimating a total of 10,000 arrivals in one day.
He claimed that due to earlier Israeli bombardments of three border crossings, there was no public security present to legally control the flow of displaced Syrians.
The state-owned Syrian Arab News Agency posted pictures showing forces leaving Idlib Governorate to fight against Assad-linked remnants.
[37] Multiple locations in Latakia province were subjected to bombardment, with SOHR documenting military operations in Barmiya, Al-Hattaniyah, Al-Ruwaymiyah, Al-Rumaylah, Muzayraa, Al-Quayqah, and Mazar Al-Qatariyah.
Several drone strikes were reported in mountainous and forested areas, suggesting that authorities suspected these regions of serving as hideouts or transit routes for militant groups.
[16] The Syrian government's news agency SANA acknowledged "some individual violations" following attacks by pro-Assad forces that had resulted in police casualties, stating that authorities were "working to stop them.
[39] The Syrian General Intelligence Service accused "former military and security leaders affiliated with the defunct regime [of being] behind the planning of these crimes" regarding the cause of the escalated violence.
The committee was tasked with uncovering the circumstances and conditions that led to those events, and the violations against civilians, government forces and security personnel that occurred, and identifying those responsible and bringing them to justice.
[47] On 9 March, activists in Damascus organized a "silent demonstration", mourning the mass killing of citizens and the deaths of government security forces during the clashes, and advocating for national unity.
[48][49] Also on 9 March, activists in the mainly-Druze city of Suwayda organized a demonstration in Al-Karamah Square condemning the sectarian-oriented massacres against coastal Syrians, and demanded an end to state violence and reprisals towards civilians.
Several protesters and residents articulated that it is a crime to kill civilians no matter who the perpetrator was, and insisted that the Syrian revolution against the Assad regime was for "a dignified life, not for revenge".
[66] The co-chairs of Turkey's DEM Party, Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan, issued a written statement criticizing the new Syrian administration's policies.
They expressed concern that the administration excluded Kurds, Alawites, Druze, women, and other groups from key political processes such as forming a transitional government and drafting a constitution.
The statement also condemned massacres targeting Alawites in Latakia and Tartus, attributing them to the administration's exclusionary policies, and noted similar incidents in Hama, Homs, and nearby villages.
It warned that these events showed the civil war was still ongoing and described the situation as one of the largest massacres of Alawites in modern history, unfolding in full view of the international community.
[67] The chairman of the Republican People's Party, Özgür Özel, expressed deep concern over the increasing violence against Alawites in Latakia and the surrounding areas, which has resulted in rising civilian casualties.