Violence against Alawites was enormous in March, when government-backed forces and some security forces carried out a massacre in the Tartus and Latakia Governorates, killing in excess of 1,300 Alawites, mostly civilians. The violence has lingered since then, but...
A Bedouin couple was killed Saturday in their home in the town of Zaidal, on the outskirts of Homs, Syria. The two were members of the Bani Khaled tribe, and state media reported that “sectarian slogans” were found at the scene. The tribe responded by attacking the...
In early December of 2024, the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) movement ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and took power. On December 8, Israel invaded Syria, occupying the demilitarized zone and going deeper, with incursions still ongoing. The first...
“Syria does not have a sectarian problem.” That’s the official position of Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, who made the declaration and emphasized the idea of Syrian unity and plurality on his visit to London. That has been the ongoing position of the ruling Hayat...
The ouster of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad was meant to usher in a time of renewed calm in Syria, coming as it did after a bloody civil war. Some Syrians are still upbeat about their chances. Minorities, not so much. Whether they’re religious or ethnic minorities,...
Violence against Syria’s Alawite minority continues apace this weekend, with multiple incidents in the central city of Homs leaving at least two civilians killed and two others wounded. The first incident took place Friday in the Zahra’a neighborhood, where an Alawite...
Syria’s Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and SDF leader Mazloum Abdi announced Tuesday that they have reached a “comprehensive ceasefire,” to go into effect immediately. This followed heavy fighting Monday in the eastern part of the Aleppo Governorate. The fighting...
Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa was feted in last week’s visit to the US for the UN General Assembly, but the ongoing sectarian violence raging in Syria shows no sign of slowing. Syria’s Alawite minority is among the main targets. Alawites were massacred en masse in a...
For the first time in 25 years, Syria’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, is visiting the United States. The visit has a singular goal in mind, getting the US to permanently remove sanctions from Syria. The bulk of the sanctions against Syria come in...
In cities and towns across Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria, thousands took to the streets in favor of the idea of retaining a decentralized system of governance in Syria, rejecting the calls of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) for full centralized control of...
