Rubio says Syria must punish Islamists, foreign jihadis behind Alawite massacre

By AFP 9 March 2025, 4:42 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)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says “radical Islamist terrorists” behind “massacres” of minorities in Syria must be held to account by the country’s interim administration.

“The United States condemns the radical Islamist terrorists, including foreign jihadis, that murdered people in western Syria in recent days,” Rubio says in a statement.

“The United States stands with Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities, and offers its condolences to the victims and their families,” he adds.

“Syria’s interim authorities must hold the perpetrators of these massacres against Syria’s minority communities accountable.”

The violence against minorities erupted after gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Alawite minority, attacked the new security forces.

War monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights later reported that security forces and allied groups killed at least 745 Alawite civilians in Latakia and Tartus provinces.