Summary executions and other atrocities have taken place in Syria’s coastal region following insurgent attacks on Syrian security forces and during subsequent government security operations, with the Alawite community bearing the brunt of the violence, Human Rights Watch said. While interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa acknowledged that “many parties entered the Syrian coast and many violations occurred,” he declined to comment on the involvement of foreign fighters, allied factions, or his own security forces. The full extent and perpetrators of these crimes have not yet been conclusively determined.

The recent wave of abuse began after coordinated attacks on March 6 by armed men apparently linked with the former government of Bashar al-Assad. These attacks resulted in the deaths of 231 members of the security forces as of March 9, according to the new government’s Military Operations Command via its official Telegram channel. In response, government security forces, including factions under the Ministry of Defense, conducted what the government called “combing operations” throughout the region. Unidentified armed groups and individuals—many entering Tartus and Latakia governorates from other parts of Syria following official calls for general mobilization—joined these operations. Unverified videos posted to Telegram channels show perpetrators, many in military fatigues, committing extrajudicial executions, looting, and indiscriminately shooting into homes and villages, as well as widespread mistreatment and outrages on personal dignity, including sectarian rhetoric. 

“Syria’s new leaders promised to break with the horrors of the past, but grave abuses on a staggering scale are being reported against predominantly Alawite Syrians in the coastal region and elsewhere in Syria,” said Adam Coogle, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Government action to protect civilians and prosecute perpetrators of indiscriminate shootings, summary executions, and other grave crimes must be swift and unequivocal.” 

Human Rights Watch was not able to verify the number of civilians killed or displaced, but obituaries circulating on Facebook indicate hundreds were killed, including entire families. The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reported on March 9 that general security forces and affiliated armed factions and individuals were responsible for the deaths of at least 396 people, “both civilians and disarmed members of the remnants of the Assad regime.” Some estimates put the civilian death toll at over 700. The SNHR also reported civilian deaths at the hands of armed groups affiliated with the former government.