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The Russian military on March 7 opened Khmeimim Air Base on the Syrian coast for hundreds of Alawite refugees as the death toll from the rebellion against the new Islamist government in the country exceeded 230.
The rebellion broke out a day earlier following a deadly security operation in the town of Beit Aana in the countryside of Latakia, with Alawite officers from the former Syrian Arab Army leading attacks on government forces. The Alawites, an offshoot of Islam Shiite, are Syria’s largest minority group. The family of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad belongs to the sect.
After initial success in Latakia, Qardaha, Jableh, Banias and Tartus, the rebels were overpowered by government forces which brought in large reinforcements and used heavy weapons overnight.
As the rebels retreated, reports of massacres by government forces targeting Alawite civilians across the coast began to surface.
Hundreds of Alawite civilians who had gathered to demand international protection outside Khmeimim Air Base near Jableh were trapped as government forces approached. To avoid another massacre, the Russian military allowed them to take refuge within the perimeter of the air base and provided them with humanitarian aid.
Photos posted to social networks showed women, children and elderly sleeping inside one of the base’s administrative buildings.
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- Click to see full-size image. Via Telegram.
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- Click to see full-size image. Via Telegram.
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- Click to see full-size image. Via Telegram.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that a total of 238 people had been killed on the coast by March 8 morning, including at least 162 Alawites civilians who were executed by government forces. The real numbers may be higher.
The largest massacre was in the city of Banias in Tartus where at least 60 people, including ten women and five children, were killed by government fighters and supporters. Two other massacres in the towns of Mukhtareyah and Qurfays in Latakia, left 24 and 22 people dead respectively.
In addition, activists said that government forces shot and killed prominent Alawite scholar Shabaan Mansour and his son in the town of Salhab in Hama. It’s worth noting that there were no movements against government forces in that area.
Despite the large number of civilian casualties, Syria’s transitional president Ahmad al-Sharaa – who led the offensive that overthrew the regime of former president Bashar al-Assad last December – doubled down on what he described as operations against “regime remnants” on the coast.
In a recorded televised address on the situation, Sharaa hailed government forces for swiftly containing the uprising on the coast.
“Some remnants of the fallen regime sought to test the new Syria they do not understand,” Sharaa said. “But Syria today is united — from east to west, north to south.”
He reiterated that the state and the people are one, and vowed to pursue those responsible for attacking security forces and civilians.
“Those who insist on violence will be held accountable in a fair court,” he declared, calling on former regime remnants to surrender their weapons immediately.
Meanwhile, a group of Alawite clerics, the Alawite Islamic Council, blamed the violence on the government, saying fighters had been sent to the coast “with the pretext of [combating] ‘regime remnants’, to terrorize and kill Syrians.” It called for the region to be put under United Nations protection.
The situation on the Syrian coast brought in very little attention from the international community and the mainstream media.
Russia, which maintains a military presence on the Syrian coast, said that it was alarmed by a deterioration in the security situation and called on all “respected” leaders of the country to stop the bloodshed.
The only other country that talked about the crackdown by Syrian government forces on the coast was Israel, with the Defense Minister slamming the government of Sharaa for the killing of Alawite civilians.
“[Abu Mohammed] al-Julani switched his robe for a suit and presented a moderate face,” Israel Katz said in a statement, using the nom de guerre of interim Syrian President Ahmed Sharaa. “Now he’s taken off the mask and exposed his true face: A jihadist terrorist of the al-Qaeda school who is committing horrifying acts against a civilian population.”
“Israel will defend itself against any threat from Syria,” Katz added, while vowing the military would continue to occupy a buffer zone along the border and keep working to keep southern Syria demilitarized.
While Sharaa has pledged to run Syria in an inclusive way, Alawites were completely excluded from government forces and senior government positions. Thousands of civil servants were also released from their jobs, worsening the economic situation on the coast.
The Syrian government’s failure to address the concerns of the Alawites or to integrate them into its ranks could open the door for foreign powers into the coast. Calls are already being made for Israel to intervene to protect the minority.
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