Victims and survivors of revenge attacks in Syria have told Sky News how families are being “slaughtered” amid a new wave of violence.
After three months of relative peace, there have been attacks in the Latakia region between fighters loyal to the deposed president Bashar al Assad and forces affiliated to Syria’s new rulers.
The latest killings have included a campaign against Syria’s Alawites, which was triggered by an attack on new government forces by Assad loyalists.
Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay has been obtaining the first accounts on what happened in Syrian cities.
Who are the Alawites?
The Alawites are a religious minority in Syria, originating from Shia Islam – the second-largest branch of Islam after Sunni.
They make up around 10% of Syria’s population – which is majority Sunni – and mainly live in the country’s coastal regions.
What were Assad’s links to the Alawites?
The overthrown president Bashar al Assad belonged to the sect.
During his reign, the Alawites made up a large part of his support base and held top posts in the army and security agencies.
One of many children displaced after her family were attacked by anti-Assad militia
What has happened to the Alawites?
Since Assad’s fall from power, many Alawites have been fired from their jobs and some former soldiers who reconciled with the new authorities were killed.
Civilians have now been targeted in revenge killings by Sunni Muslim militants loyal to the new government, who have blamed Assad’s loyalists for attacks against the country’s new security forces in recent weeks.
The Alawites, along with Syria’s other minority communities, including Kurds, Christians and Druze, have said they are concerned about revenge attacks and are not convinced by the new government’s promise of an inclusive country.
What has been happening in recent days?
There have been renewed calls for a “general mobilisation” – posted by various factions across social media – to help crush the insurgency by Assad’s supporters.
Hundreds of trucks full of fighters, as well as tanks and heavy weaponry, have been seen streaming towards the coastal heartlands of the minority Alawite sect to which Assad belonged.
A vehicle carrying Syrian soldiers heads towards a cloud of smoke in Latakia as violence broke out earlier this month. Pic: Reuters
What happened earlier this month?
Syrian security forces started battling fighters loyal to Assad as violence broke out on 6, 7 and 8 March, largely in the coastal region of western Syria, which is heavily populated by the members of the Alawite minority.
Human rights organisations say as many as 1,300 people were killed over the 72 hours of violence – including civilians, militia fighters and security officials,
Latakia, on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, is where most of the killings of civilians have taken place
What stories do the survivors have?
There are as many as 10,000 Alawites who are now camping in and around the Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria.
People are seeking shelter and protection, but told Sky News of their experiences.
Adiba Shehaidi is sleeping rough outside the base after escaping her village, Ain al Arous.
She said: “They attacked us, just like that, slaughtered us, our friends, our neighbours, our children, our relatives – our in-laws, all of them, were slaughtered.”
Another woman said: “We need help, international help. We need international peacekeepers.”
The World with Yalda Hakim at 9pm on Sky News will feature a series of special reports on Syria from our chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay and special correspondent Alex Crawford.
Watch their latest report inside Al-Hol camp, where thousands of families affiliated to the former Islamic State group are being held by Kurdish forces in northeast Syria.
