MORE than 1300 Syrians, mostly civilians, have been killed in sectarian violence in the past week, a war monitor in the region reports.
Many details of the clashes and casualty numbers remain unconfirmed. Responding to reports of the killing of entire families in summary executions, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said that there must be “prompt, transparent, and impartial investigations into all the killings and other violations, and those responsible must be held to account”.
The killings were condemned by the Greek, Syriac, and Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchs in Syria, who said that the “horrific acts . . . stand in stark opposition to all human and moral values”.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that more than 1300 people have been killed, primarily in the Latakia and Tartus provinces on the country’s Mediterranean coast. The unrest reportedly began with clashes between groups supportive of the new government in Syria, and forces loyal to the former President, Bashar al-Assad, who was deposed late last year (News, 20 December 2024).
The coastal region is home to many of Syria’s Alawite community, who follow a minority sect of Islam with which Bashar al-Assad is associated.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, John X; the Syriac Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Mor Ignatius Aphrem II; and the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Youssef Absi, released a joint statement on Saturday.
“In recent days, Syria has witnessed a dangerous escalation of violence, brutality, and killings, resulting in attacks on innocent civilians, including women and children. Homes have been violated, their sanctity disregarded, and properties looted — scenes that starkly reflect the immense suffering endured by the Syrian people,” the Patriarch said.
They called for “national reconciliation” and the nurturing of a society “based on equal citizenship and genuine partnership, free from the logic of vengeance and exclusion”.
AlamySyrian security officers check the ID of a driver at a checkpoint, after recent fighting between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to the former President, Bashar al-Assad, on Tuesday
The statement was supported by the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Revd Professor Jerry Pillay, who called on the international community, faith organisations, and “all people of goodwill” to support Syrians in the “quest for peace, reconciliation, and justice”.
Some outlets reported that Christians made up a significant proportion of the dead: GB News ran a headline starting “Christians massacred”. This was not the case, the communications officer for Open Doors, Matthew Barnes, said.
“We know that four Christian men have died in the region where the violence took place. We know that one of them was hit by a stray bullet. And we have no evidence that any of them were killed because of their faith. This certainly doesn’t equate to a ‘slaughter of Christians’,” he said on Tuesday.
Open Doors campaigns for persecuted Christians, and false reports of the targeting of Christians were dangerous, Mr Barnes said. “I’m terribly worried by it, because something like this can rebound on to the Christians there.”
Since President Assad’s overthrow, Christians in Syria had been “cautious but optimistic”, Mr Barnes said; but the events of recent days might prompt more to leave the country.
“Hundreds of thousands of Christians have fled Syria in recent years. I’m afraid if violence like this becomes commonplace, we will have another big exodus,” he said.
The recent violence reportedly began with clashes between Assad loyalists and groups supportive of the new Syrian government, followed by reprisals on the Alawite community, with which the former president is associated.
Bashar al-Assad is part of the Alawite ethno-religious minority, as was his father, Hafaz, who ruled ruled Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000.
The Ba’ath party, of which Bashar al-Assad was leader from his father’s death until he fled the country late last year, first took power in a coup in 1963. Assad’s election victories — which he reputedly won with more than 90 per cent of the vote share — were not considered democratic by international organisations.
In December, a coalition of anti-Assad forces made decisive gains in the civil war that had been raging since 2011. Mr Assad fled the country, and the leader of the most prominent group in the alliance, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Ahmed al-Sharaa, was installed as Interim President.
On Sunday, President Sharaa, who is also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani, appealed for “national unity and civil peace”.
He has urged Assad loyalists to lay down their weapons, and said that a commission would be formed to investigate the recent killings. The New York Times, however, also reported his saying that “everyone knows who is responsible for this disorder and plots.”
On Monday, it was announced that the Kurdish-led militia that controls the north-east of the country would integrate with President Sharaa’s government, in what appeared to be a step towards greater unity in Syria.
