Syria’s new rulers have announced an end to the operation against supporters of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, with the worst violence reported in the recent operation killing 1,000 civilians.
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According to a report by the French news agency ‘AFP’, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had reported the massacre of at least 973 civilians since Thursday, most of whom belonged to the Alawite minority, who were executed by security forces or allied groups.
The fighting in the coastal heartland of the Alawite minority is linked to the ousted president, and the transfer of power after decades of iron rule by the Assad clan has raised the risk of chaos.
Defense Ministry spokesman Hassan Abdul Ghani told the state news agency SANA that authorities had ended a large-scale “military operation” against security threats and “remnants of the Assad regime” in the Mediterranean coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus.
The announcement was made by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who said the country would never again be plunged into civil war.
He said no foreign power or domestic party would be allowed to drag Syria into chaos or civil war.
He also vowed that anyone involved in the killing of civilians and those who abused their authority would be held accountable without discrimination.
A resident in the Jabla area of Latakia province tearfully told AFP that he was being “terrorized” by armed groups that had taken control of the city.
“More than 50 of my family and friends have been killed, they have collected the bodies and buried them in mass graves,” he said.
Residents in some areas have begun to move out temporarily, but many are still afraid to leave their homes after dark, complaining of a lack of basic supplies.
Farah, a 22-year-old university student, said that things were a bit calmer in Latakia today. People have come out after five days of unrest and extreme fear, but the situation is still “very tense.”
“After 6 p.m., you don’t see anyone on the street, it turns into a ghost town,” she said.
Clashes broke out in the Alawite-dominated area of Syria on Thursday, when gunmen loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad attacked Syria’s new security forces.
