Thousands of Syrians from the Alawite community, to which ousted former president Bashar al-Assad belongs, participated Thursday in the funerals of three civilians killed by foreign jihadists close to the new authorities, reported an NGO and a witness.
Since the fall of Assad, violence against Alawites – long associated with his clan in the predominantly Sunni country – has increased sharply, with the NGO recording at least 148 murders.
“Thousands of people gathered at the funeral of three Alawite farmers from the same family, including a child, killed by foreign Islamist fighters allied with the new authorities,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH). ).
The civilians were killed Wednesday in the village of Ain Sharqia, located in the Latakia region, an Alawite stronghold, the OSDH said.
Ali, one of those attending the funeral, told AFP that residents were demanding that those responsible be punished and that foreign fighters leave the region so that local police, affiliated with the new authorities, can take their place.
“We can’t have people dying every day,” he said, asking to be identified only by his first name for security reasons. “We want security and safety to prevail; we support the transitional authorities. We don’t want any more killings.”
Rami Abdel Rahmane, director of the OSDH, told AFP that the participants also demanded that the new Syrian authorities release the thousands of detained soldiers and conscripts.
The Alawite community was over-represented in the country’s now disbanded armed forces.
On Tuesday, three Alawite clerics were also killed by unknown gunmen on the road from Tartous to Damascus, the NGO reported.
Another cleric and his wife were found dead in the Hama countryside on Thursday, after being kidnapped the day before.
Last month, violent protests erupted in Syria following a video showing a deadly attack on an Alawite shrine, with the Observatory reporting the death of a protester in the city of Homs.
The new Islamist authorities seeking to reassure minorities claimed that the video was “old” and that “unknown groups” were behind the attack, specifying that the republication of the video served to “sow discord”.
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© Agence France-Presse
Thousands of Syrians from the Alawite community, to which ousted former president Bashar al-Assad belongs, participated Thursday in the funerals of three civilians killed by foreign jihadists close to the new authorities, reported an NGO and a witness.
Since the fall of Assad, violence against the Alawites – for a long time…
