SILVA EL-IBRAHIM

Hasakah- The social fabric is at the risk in Syria due to the interim government led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).  Attacks targeting the Alawite and Druze minorities in Syria’s coastal areas and the Druze majority city of Sweida continue.

March 6, 2025, was no ordinary day for the Alawite community in Syria’s coastal areas; people woke up to gunfire and the streets were suddenly filled with dead bodies. N.A. is an Alawite woman from Baniyas, a coastal city in Tartous Governorate, western Syria.

She had left Baniyas for work when armed groups began looting settlements in the city. She could not reach her family members for a while due to the internet outage. “Finally, I contacted them and learned that death was all around and there were many dead bodies in their neighborhood,” she told NuJINHA. “March 6 was a day of terror because we woke up to reports on massacres against the Alawite community.”

 ‘No one dares to leave their homes’

N.A. told us that those who had attacked the Alawites were not Syrian.

“There was no water or power for three days. I stayed outside Baniyas for a month because the massacres did not stop. The armed groups looted homes and burned down the houses of the forcibly displaced villagers. The economy in the coastal areas has been deteriorating due to the attacks. The Alawites have been killed. Before massacres were committed against the Alawites, but now members of the Alawite community are killed one by one. Syria’s coastal areas witness murders and kidnappings every day. No one dares to leave their home due to these incidents.”

‘A vengeful regime, not an interim government’

N.A. stated that they had been waiting for the fall of the Assad regime for years, drawing attention to the massacres committed by the new government. “How can a new Syria be rebuilt while children, women, scholars and intellectuals are being killed?” she asked, stressing that implementing the oppressive and exclusionary methods of the old regime could not be a way to build a new country. “This situation reveals the existence of a vengeful regime, not an interim government.”

‘Security is used as a shield’

N.A. also criticized the government for having appointed those who committed massacres against the Alawites to certain public positions.

“We were shocked to hear that the armed groups that committed massacres against the Alawites were affiliated with the Ministry of Defense and some of their members were appointed to some positions at the General Security, which is supposed to provide security. How could someone who killed us be responsible for protecting us? This allows them to kidnap, kill and rape women without any accountability. Security is used as a shield to legitimate their crimes.”

‘We can build a better Syria’

Sectarian tensions have been escalating in Syria since Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) came to power, she emphasized and concluded her speech, saying:

“Syrians are dissatisfied with the recent changes. Changes should bring freedom, security and justice; however, we have witnessed massacres, kidnappings and injustice. Syrian citizens have been killed because of their identity. As Syrian people, we can build a better Syria if we unite. The government should contribute to strengthening ethnic and religious groups rather than fueling sectarian violence.”