Monitor raises number of Alawite civilians executed by Syrian security forces to 134

By AFP 7 March 2025, 9:16 pm

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This handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows members of the Syrian security forces entering the western city of Baniyas in Syria's coastal Tartous province to reinforce government troops in clashes with militants loyal to deposed ruler Bashar al-Assad, on March 7, 2025. (Photo by SANA / AFP)

Syrian security forces “executed” 134 civilians on Friday in the Mediterranean heartland of ousted president Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite minority, a war monitor says.

Some “134 Alawite civilians, including at least 13 women and five children, were executed by security forces in the regions of Banyas, Latakia and Jableh,” Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, tells AFP, bringing the overall toll to 229 since the outbreak of violence on Thursday, when authorities began a vast security operation following clashes.