Syria: Death toll as Sunni jihadists kill Alawites and Christians now over 1,000

If only somebody could have seen this coming and warned about the jihadist threat.

“Syria’s worst violence in months reopens wounds of the civil war,” by Kareem Chehayeb, Associated Press, March 9, 2025:

An ambush on a Syrian security patrol by gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar Assad escalated into clashes that a war monitor estimates have killed more than 1,000 people over four days.

The attack Thursday near the port city of Latakia reopened the wounds of the country’s 13-year civil war and sparked the worst violence Syria has seen since December, when insurgents led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, overthrew Assad.

The counteroffensive against the Assad loyalists in the largely Alawite coastal region brought havoc to several cities and towns. Rights groups reported dozens of revenge killings resulting from Sunni militants targeting the minority Islamic sect, regardless of whether they were involved in the insurgency.

Here’s a look at the latest violence in the war-wracked country:

Tensions have been on the rise since Assad’s downfall following sectarian attacks against Alawites, who ruled Syria for over 50 years under the Assad dynasty. The assaults continued despite promises from Syria’s interim president that the country’s new leaders will carve out a political future for Syria that includes and represents all its communities.

In their ambush, the pro-Assad Alawite gunmen overwhelmed government security forces and later took control of Qardaha, Assad’s hometown, as Damascus scrambled to bring in reinforcements.

Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Hassan Abdel-Ghani said Sunday that security forces have restored control of the region and will continue pursuing leaders of the galvanized insurgency….

Most of the dead are apparently members of the Alawite community, who live largely in the country’s coastal province, including in the cities of Latakia and Tartous. Rights groups estimate that hundreds of civilians were killed….

Damascus blamed “individual actions” for the widespread violence against civilians and said government security forces were responding to the gunmen loyal to the former government….

Al-Sharaa appealed to Syrians and the international community in an address over the weekend, calling for accountability for anyone who harms civilians and mistreats prisoners. Such human rights violations were rampant under Assad. Al-Sharra also formed a committee composed mostly of judges to investigate the violence.

In a statement issued Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Syrian authorities to “hold the perpetrators of these massacres” accountable. Rubio said the U.S. “stands with Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities.”