At Least 11 Alawites Killed in Syria as Sectarian Violence Continues to Rage

8th grade student among slain in Latakia Governorate

Sectarian violence against Syria’s Alawite minority became a huge matter in early March, when massacres left well over 1,300 people dead and the ruling Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) insisting the matter was over and an investigation would happen.

The probe has been delayed since then, and the violence slowed but never really stopped. Over the weekend, yet more killings were reported, with at least 11 Alawites slain according to various reports.

At least nine civilians were reported killed on Saturday in attacks in the Latakia Governorate. The biggest incident happened in a village on the outskirts of Jableh, where gunmen attacked and killed a number of Alawites, including an 8th grade student. Two of the slain were reportedly beheaded.

Smoke rises while members of the Syrian forces ride on a vehicle as they battle against a nascent insurgency by fighters from ousted leader Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite sect, in Latakia, Syria March 7, 2025. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri

The area around Jableh was also where the first killings in the early March massacre took place. Latakia Governorate is where a large portion of Syria’s Alawite minority lives, and when fighting turned to mass executions the villages in Latakia were among the main targets.

In addition to Latakia, violence has been reported in the Homs Governorate against Alawites lately as well. Two Alawite taxi cab drivers from a nearby village were reported shot to death within Homs by unnamed gunmen.

Alawites make up around 10% of Syria’s population. Their religion is somewhat distinct but has commonalities with Shi’ite Islam, and the fact that the Assad family, who ruled Syria before the HTS took power in late 2024, has made Alawites a common target for supporters of the new government, who often present Alawites as necessarily “remnants” of the Assad government.

In reality, many Alawites note they weren’t always treated very well by the previous government either, and were afraid that the Islamist HTS would make them scapegoats for everything the Assad-era officials did.

Though the HTS has tried to present the repeated massacres as something happening external to their rule, many of the biggest attacks were carried out by forces loyal to the defense ministry and interior ministry, and despite promises of investigations into people “abusing” their position for sectarian violence, nothing has come of any of those investigations so far.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.