Two days of clashes and revenge killings in Syria leave more than 1,000 dead

The death toll from two days of clashes between Syrian security forces and loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad and revenge killings that followed has passed 1,000, including 750 civilians, a war monitoring group said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in addition to 745 civilians, mostly killed in massacres, 125 government security force members and 148 militants with armed groups affiliated with Assad were killed.

It added that electricity and drinking water were cut off in large areas around the city of Latakia.

The government has said it was responding to attacks from remnants of Assad’s forces and blamed “individual actions” for the violence.

The revenge killings that started on Friday by Sunni Muslim gunmen loyal to the government against members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect are a major blow to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the faction that led the overthrow of the former administration. Alawites made up a large part of Assad’s support base for decades.

Residents of Alawite villages and towns spoke to the Associated Press about killings during which gunmen shot Alawites, the majority of them men, in the streets or at the gates of their homes.

Many homes of Alawites were looted and then set on fire in different areas, two residents of Syria’s coastal region told the AP from their hideouts.

They asked that their names not be made public out of fear of being killed by gunmen, adding that thousands of people have fled to nearby mountains for safety.

One resident said the gunmen prevented residents for hours from removing the bodies of five of their neighbours killed at close range on Friday.

Ali Sheha, a 57-year-old resident of Baniyas who fled with his family and neighbours hours after the violence broke out on Friday, said that at least 20 of his neighbours and colleagues in one neighbourhood of Baniyas where Alawites lived, were killed, some of them in their shops or homes.

He called the attacks “revenge killings” of the Alawite minority for the crimes committed by Assad’s government. Other residents said the gunmen included foreign fighters and militants from neighbouring villages and towns.

He said the gunmen were gathering less than 100 metres from his apartment building, firing randomly at homes and residents and in at least one incident he knows of, asked residents for their IDs to check their religion and their sect before killing them.

He said the gunmen also burned some homes and stole cars and robbed homes.

“This was one of the biggest massacres during the Syrian conflict,” he said about the killings of Alawite civilians.

The previous figure given by the group was more than 200 dead. No official figures have been released.

Syria’s state news agency quoted a Defence Ministry source as saying government forces have regained control of many areas from Assad loyalists. It added that authorities have closed all roads leading to the coastal region “to prevent violations and gradually restore stability”.

On Saturday morning, the bodies of 31 people killed in revenge attacks the day before in the central village of Tuwaym were laid to rest in a mass grave, residents said. They included nine children and four women, the residents said.

Lebanese legislator Haidar Nasser, who holds one of the two seats allocated to the Alawite sect in parliament, said people were fleeing to Lebanon. He did not have exact numbers.

Mr Nasser said many people were sheltering at the Russian air base in Hmeimim, adding that the international community should protect Alawites who are Syrian citizens loyal to their country. He said that since Assad’s fall, many Alawites had been fired from their jobs and some former soldiers who reconciled with the new authorities were killed.

Under Assad, Alawites held top posts in the army and security agencies. The new government has blamed his loyalists for attacks against the country’s new security forces over recent weeks.

The most recent clashes started when government forces tried to detain a wanted person near the coastal city of Jableh, and were ambushed by Assad loyalists, according to the Observatory.