Over a thousand dead and hundreds of civilians killed in three days: What's going on in Syria?

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed Saturday that 1,018 people have been killed in Syria's coastal provinces over the past three days after different groups loyal to the recently ousted ex-dictator Bashar al-Asad clashed with security forces of the current administration. The NGO even detailed that, of the total number of dead that could be counted so far, 745 of them would be civilians from the Alawite minority.

In a statement, the NGO mentioned that "As of this Saturday afternoon, the death toll reached 1,018 people. Seven hundred forty-five civilians were killed in cold blood in sectarian massacres." Similarly, they stressed that the massacres of all these Alawite civilians took place in the provinces west of the country, where a good part of this minority population is concentrated, of which both al-Assad and his family are part.

Syrian government forces have committed numerous atrocities

Clashes between Syrian government security forces and groups loyal to the recently ousted ex-dictator erupted this Thursday in the Mediterranean regions of Tartous and Latakia, where there is also a strong presence of the Alawite minority and where several outbreaks of extreme violence have taken place in recent months.

In a statement, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) explained that the forces of the current Syrian president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, committed all sorts of excesses, including especially the "widespread field executions" of young and adult men "without distinguishing between civilians or combatants." Apropos of this statement, the Syrian government explained that it had set up an "emergency committee" to monitor human rights violations committed by its military forces in this fighting and that it "will refer to the military court those who have exceeded command instructions during the recent military and security operation."

High death toll among government troops

In statements picked up by the AFP news agency, the head of security in Latakia, Mustafa Kneifati, commented that what has happened since this Thursday has been nothing other than "a well-planned and premeditated attack. Several groups of Assad militiamen attacked our positions and our checkpoints, hitting a large number of our patrols in the Jableh region."

Without giving a specific figure, Kneifati noted that the actions by forces loyal to the ex-dictator caused a high number of dead and wounded among his troops. However, the security official in Latakia assured that his forces had arrested one of al-Asad's top generals, who was currently one of the leaders of insurgent groups in the area. He also commented that his forces "are going to restore stability in the region and protect the assets of our people."

Generals of the Syrian government forces revealed that, since the beginning of this new fighting against the pro-Assad groups, 300 of their members have been captured and 150 have been killed "in cold blood." President al-Sharaa said in a televised speech that he would relentlessly pursue those responsible. He also urged the Syrian Armed Forces to "ensure that there are no excessive or unjustified responses," following reports of excesses committed during the clashes and the vast number of civilian casualties.