In Syria mainly ethnic Alawite families executed

Hostilities have continued in northwestern Syria. © UNOCHA-Ali Haj Suleiman

11 March 2025 - Days of violence against Syria’s mainly ethnic Alawite communities have included the summary execution of entire families, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, confirmed on Tuesday. 

Speaking in Geneva, OHCHR spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said that 111 people have been confirmed dead so far.

Media reports indicate the true death toll may be closer to 1,000 after security forces allied with Syria’s Caretaker Authorities allegedly targeted communities in coastal areas that represent the former regional powerbase of ousted President Bashar Al Assad.

“Many of the cases documented were of summary executions,” Mr. Al-Kheetan told journalists.“They appear to have been carried out on a sectarian basis, in Tartus, Latakia and Hama governorates – reportedly by unidentified armed individuals, members of armed groups allegedly supporting the caretaker authorities’ security forces, and by elements associated with the former government.”

According to many testimonies collected by OHCHR, attackers raided houses, asking residents whether they were Alawite or Sunni before either killing them or sparing them.

“Some survivors told us that many men were shot dead in front of their families,” Mr. Al-Kheetan said.

The OHCHR spokesperson said that hospitals had also come under attack with patients, doctors and medical students targeted.

Agreement with Kurdish-led forces welcomed

The UN has welcomed the agreement signed by the leaderships of the Caretaker Authorities in Syria and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that took place on Monday.

The SDF was a powerful part of the armed opposition to the former Assad regime, holding a large swathe of territory in Syria’s northeast. The deal will reportedly see fighting units integrated within the national army and recognises the Kurds as integral to the State.

The UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, expressed hope that the deal will boost support and feed into a broader, credible and inclusive political transition process, in line with the key principles of Security Council resolution 2254, that leads to a new constitution, and free and fair elections.

Aid deliveries continue

On the humanitarian front, delivery of cross-border assistance from Türkiye into northwest Syria is continuing, said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, briefing journalists in New York.                

Around 31 trucks from the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and refugee agency, UNHCR, went through the Bab al-Hawa crossing from Türkiye into Syria, delivering more than 600 metric tons of supplies, including food, shelter repair and hygiene kits, he added.  

“This very much needed aid comes as we and our partners continue to try to mobilize assistance for people in need, including for those displaced by the recent violence.”  - UN News