Last updated Sunday 3/9/25 3:44 PM EDT
The situation in northwestern Syria continues to spiral out of control this weekend, as the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has been surging forces into the Alawite homelands in the Latakia and Tartus Governorates, clashing with Alawite militias and slaughtering civilians.
The fighting erupted Thursday, when the militias launched an organized attack on an HTS-run checkpoint near Jableh. It quickly escalated, and now the reported death tolls are enormous. The Associated Press is reporting over 600 killed, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) is saying over 1,000 deaths are believed to have happened. Currently, 125 militia fighters and 148 government forces loyal to the HTS have been confirmed killed, though those numbers are expected to rise, as the fighting continues across the region.
The majority of the deaths though, potentially the vast majority, are Alawite civilians, as HTS forces from the Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry have been carrying out revenge killings en masse in several locations. At least 745 civilians have been killed killed in summary executions over the past three days, though that number is expected to continue to rise as the incidents continue.
Early reports of summary executions of Alawites were in the area around Jableh, as well as the village of al-Mukhtareyah, al-Shir and al-Haffah. Since then reports have HTS troops rounding up men in cities like Baniyas and killing them by the scores. Alawites are being dragged from their shops and shot in the streets. There have also been reports of security forces looting homes and businesses and setting fires.
Most of the slain civilians are believed to be adult men, but a number of women and children have been confirmed to have been executed. 13 women and 5 children were reported killed Friday in Baniyah, while Saturday morning an additional 4 women and 9 children were among those buried in the village of Tuwaym, in Hama Governorate.
From a military control perspective, it has been reported that HTS forces have effective control over the cities of Tartus, Latakia, Jableh and Baniyas, though some fighting is still going on in the area. Heavier fighting is believed to be happening in the mountains in Latakia Governorate, and substantial HTS forces have been sent to the town of Qardahah to engage in the militias in the mountains.
Syrian state media has leaned hard on the narrative that the Alawite militias are “remnants” of the former Assad government, who the HTS ousted in December. Reports from the state media are also playing up the idea that the civilians being killed are Assad loyalists.
Some of the militias may indeed hold loyalty to former Assad-era Maj. Gen. Suhayl al-Hassan, but the claim of the hundreds of civilians being loyalists stretches credibility. Indications are that the executions aren’t being done on the basis of any loyalty test, but rather that any Alawites in the Alawite-heavy region are the target.
The HTS government started carrying out violent crackdowns against the Alawite minority almost immediately after taking power, and it has always been presented as either targeting Assad remnants or drug smugglers. Alawites have been sounding the alarm about their persecution for months, noting that while Assad and some of his circle were Alawites, the ordinary Alawite in the northwest faced every bit as much persecution under the old regime as the rest of the country had.
In addition to the fighting and massacres actively ongoing, a large number of locals from the area have reportedly taken up shelter inside the Hmeimim air base near Jableh, and some are using the base as a site for protests against the HTS. Hmeimim is an old Russian base from the Assad era, though Russia has largely halted operations there since Assad’s ouster.
The HTS government has imposed a curfew across the Latakia, Tartus, Homs and Hama Governorates, and there are reports that effectively all roads are blocked to prevent people from traveling into or out of the coastal area.
HTS was formerly al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), later rebranding to Jabhat al-Nusra and finally HTS before taking control of Syria in December. Their leader, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, himself subsequently rebranded as Ahmed al-Sharaa, is the de facto ruler of Syria now, and has been loudly demanding that the Alawites surrender before it is “too late.”
With growing international disquiet about the massacres, Syria announced on Sunday that they are forming an independent committee to investigate the “reasons and circumstances” for the killings. Sharaa suggested in a video statement through state media they would hold anyone accountable who was found to have “overstepped the powers of the state.”
Sharaa also termed the fighting against his security forces an “unforgivable mistake,” and gave an address Friday reiterating his intention to “monopolize weapons in the hands of the state.” He said there would never again be any “unregulated” weapons in Syria, a position that has led to substantial tension with the Kurdish SDF in the northeast, though now the major violence is centered around Alawite country.
The Alawites were founded in the 9th century by Ibn Nusayr as an offshoot from the Shi’ite tradition, though it has substantial differences from modern Shi’ite interpretations. Alawites make up an estimated 10% of Syria’s population, overwhelmingly concentrated in the northwest.
The perception of Alawites as a branch of Shi’ism has often made them targets for Sunni Islamist groups. A number of Alawites and Shi’ites have fled to neighboring Lebanon since the HTS took power, and the crisis of the past few days is likely to add to the number seeking to flee.
International reaction has been mixed. The UN has urged calm and the Red Cross has emphasized the need to ensure access to health facilities in the effected areas, while Kuwait and Bahrain have both offered statements of support for the HTS, condemning the Alawite militias as “outlaws” and accusing them of threatening the stability of the Syrian state.
