Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa has formed a committee examining the recent wave of violence between President Bashar al-Assad’s exiled security forces and Alawian loyalty.
The ambush of Syrian security patrols by gunmen loyal to exiled leader Bashar Assad escalated to a clash that war monitors estimates have killed more than 1,000 people in four days.
The attack on Thursday near the port city of Latakia resumed the wounds of the country’s 13-year civil war, causing the worst violence Syria has seen since December.
The counterattack against Assad’s loyalists in most coastal regions of the Alawites has wreaked havoc in several cities and towns. Rights groups have reported dozens of revenge killings stemming from Sunni extremists targeting minority Islamic sects, whether they are involved in the rebellion or not.
In the ambush, Assad’s Alawian gunmen overwhelmed the government’s security forces and later ruled Assad’s hometown, Kaldaha.
Ministry of Defense spokesman Hassan Abdel Ghani said on Sunday that security forces will restore control of the region and continue to pursue leaders of the galvanized rebellion.
However, despite authorities seeking an end to sectarian instigation, the clashes became fatal and many civilians were killed.
Most of the dead are apparently members of the Alawian community, who live primarily in the country’s coastal states, including the cities of Latakia and Tarash. Rights groups estimate that hundreds of civilians have been killed.
The Syrian Human Rights Observatory said 745 civilians were killed, mainly in the shootings. Additionally, 125 members of government security forces and 148 militants with armed groups belonging to Assad were killed.
Syria’s new interim government is under Sunni Islamist control. Former HTS leader, President Ahmad al-Sharaa, has promised to move to a system that includes mosaics of Syrian religious and ethnic groups under a fair election, but skeptics wonder if that will actually happen.
In his weekend speech, Alshara appealed to Syrians and the international community, calling for accountability to those who harm civilians and abuse prisoners.
Alshara condemned the outbreak of violence and the remnants of certain foreign actors and formed a committee composed primarily of judges to investigate violence.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Syrian authorities to “hold the perpetrators of these massacres.” He added that the United States “supposes as a Syrian religious and ethnic minority, including the Christian, Druze, Alawian and Kurdish communities.”
