Daraa the epicenter of 2011 protest movement against Asad government just started an uprising against the HTS-led regime in Syria
Massacres against civilians in the countryside of Latakia
Meida correspondents in Syria confirmed today, Friday, that a series of massacres took place in areas on the Syrian coast, quoting local sources that "a group wearing military uniforms and public security entered the village of Al-Mukhtariyya and separated the men from the women and children, and killed the males."
The correspondents stressed that the scene of the massacres was repeated in the town of Al-Haffa and in the village of Al-Qabu, describing the day as "bloody" in the countryside of Latakia.
Earlier in the week, in the south of Syria, protesters took to the street in opposition to the new regime in Syria, which is led by the HTS, a former al-Qaeda group.
The killing of civilians was also confirmed by an NGO, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which reported that security forces “executed” 134 civilians from the Alawite sect to which ousted President Bashar al-Assad belongs, during a large-scale sweep in western Syria.
The director of the observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, told Agence France-Presse that “134 Alawite civilians, including at least 13 women and five children… were executed by security forces in the areas of Baniyas, Latakia and Jableh.” He pointed out that members of the security forces, including foreigners, stormed homes and summarily executed civilians, especially in the city of Baniyas. This raised the death toll to 229 people since the outbreak of bloody clashes on Thursday. The SOHR has been reporting about Syrian since 2011, and it was seen as anti-Asad regime and pro-rebel by some observers.
Reacting to the massacres, the head of an Alawite representative body issued the following statement:
The Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the Diaspora
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
In light of the recent developments, and our follow-up of the ongoing escalations
And the number of convoys entering the Syrian coast under the pretext of the remnants of the regime and with the intent to terrorize and kill the Syrian people in general and the Alawite sect in particular, and with evidence, we demand from the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the State of Russia and the international community.
The President and members of the permanent UN Security Council.
Place the Syrian coast and the areas of the Alawite sect under the protection of the United Nations and implement the provisions of Chapter VII of the UN Charter to protect the Alawite sect and the rest of the minorities.
We also address the Sheikh of the Mind of the Druze Monotheists, His Eminence Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri
And we say that with the intensification of the ordeal, we put our hand in your hand, His Eminence Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, and we ask you to support us and lift the injustice from us. We do not support an oppressor, nor do we stand with hands stained with blood. Rather, we stand with truth and justice, and we are ready to hold accountable any criminal who committed a crime against our people, even if he is one of our own.
We appeal to you to stand with us, for you are the people of chivalry and rescue, and the national reference that we trust in this ordeal. Let your position be a support for us, and let your voices be raised with us so that our call reaches every person with a living conscience.
Clashes in Daraa and a sit-in in Sweida
BBC reported that clashes in Daraa ended while the city of Sweida witnessed a massive sit-in against the new administration in Syria, as citizens flocked to the city in response to calls spread on social media.
The protesters gathered in Al-Karama Square to express their rejection of the current situation, demanding a real change in the ruling policies and justice in representing the people, according to calls on social media.
In a parallel development, the "Men of Dignity" movement announced coordination with the Ministry of Interior to activate the role of internal security in the province. The movement explained that special internal security mechanisms have been sent to Sweida, where the province's factions will work with the Interior Ministry to better organize the security situation.
In Daraa, the security operation launched by the Internal Security Forces affiliated with the Military Operations Room against an armed group led by "Mohsen al-Haimed", who was previously supported by the Military Intelligence, ended in the city of al-Sanamayn in the Daraa countryside, after violent clashes that lasted 24 hours.
With the end of the operation, the Internal Security Forces announced control over the city, while the area remains in a state of continuous tension amid tight security measures.
The final death toll from the clashes reached 15 dead, including 8 members of the Internal Security Forces, 6 local gunmen, in addition to the killing of a civilian and the injury of a number of civilians, including women and children.
Forces affiliated with the transitional authority said that they surrounded the house in which al-Haimed was holed up, amid information that he fled to an unknown location with a number of his members.
The clashes erupted after negotiations failed and al-Hamid and his group refused to surrender, leading to fighting that killed eight members of the Internal Security Forces and six local gunmen, in addition to the killing of a civilian and the injury of a number of civilians, including women and children, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The clashes began on Wednesday in the city of al-Sanamayn in the northern countryside of the governorate between security forces and an armed group linked to the former Military Security, and continued until Thursday, amid a state of panic among civilians living in the areas of the clashes.
According to estimates, the number of al-Hamid's group is 200 armed men, and it was previously affiliated with the Military Security Service and the security forces of the Bashar al-Assad regime, according to media reports.
The Internal Security Forces are carrying out a large-scale campaign in the city with the aim of "searching for wanted persons and weapons," and the Observatory says that the campaign came the day after clashes between the security forces and the same group, which led to the killing of three gunmen and the injury of three civilians, including a child, according to the Observatory.
The official page of Daraa Governorate on Telegram quoted a source in the Internal Security as saying that the security forces are continuing military operations "to cleanse the area of armed elements."
Military reinforcements arrived in the city in the morning to raid gatherings of armed groups outside the law, according to what the governorate's page quoted from the official in the Internal Security, Abdul Razzaq Al-Khatib.
He added that the clashes are still at their peak in some buildings in the southwestern neighborhood of the city. Daraa Governorate was the cradle of popular protests against the authorities in Damascus in 2011. Regime forces regained control of it in July 2018, but it has witnessed cases of security tension in recent years.
Since the new authorities took control of power in Damascus, clashes and shooting incidents have been recorded in a number of areas, and security officials accuse some militants loyal to the former regime of being behind them.
Imposing and controlling security throughout Syria is one of the most prominent challenges facing the head of the transitional phase, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, after a devastating conflict that began 13 years ago and its parties have branched out.
Assassinations and liquidations on the rise
Assassinations and physical liquidations have continued in Syria since the beginning of 2025, bringing the number of victims in various Syrian governorates to 343, including 334 men, 7 women, and 2 children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
On Thursday, a new assassination incident occurred in the city of Aleppo, where three unknown gunmen riding a motorcycle shot a person directly inside his office in the Salah al-Din neighborhood, killing him instantly, before fleeing.
According to information obtained by the Observatory, the victim was accused of dealing with the former regime.
In the Homs countryside, a similar incident occurred in the village of Aqrabiyah, where an armed group stormed a citizen's house, wearing uniforms similar to those of the Internal Security Forces, and took the owner of the house to an unknown destination. His body was found hours later on the Samaqiyat road, with five gunshot wounds.
These operations come amid escalating security tensions in several areas, raising fears among residents of a new wave of assassinations targeting specific figures in mysterious circumstances.
At the same time, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced on Wednesday the killing of at least four civilians during a security campaign launched by security forces in the city of Latakia in western Syria, and the killing of seven others in the south of the country during two days of clashes between gunmen and security forces.
The official media quoted security sources as saying that security forces launched a campaign on Tuesday in the Daatour neighborhood in the city of Latakia, after its members were subjected to an armed ambush "set up by groups of remnants of Assad's militias", which resulted in the death of two of them.
The Observatory counted the killing of at least four civilians in the neighborhood, including two construction workers in a building under construction and two school guards, noting that cautious calm has returned to the area after the arrest of a number of residents and wanted persons.
The General Security announced, for its part, the arrest of a number of people involved in the attack, and the neutralization of others without mentioning their number.
The Ministry of Interior quoted the Director of the General Security Department in Latakia Governorate, Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Knefati, as saying, "After receiving a report about what happened, a special security force was prepared and gathered related information, and reached one of the members of the criminal cell and raided his hideout immediately."
He added that "the criminal cell threw bombs at security patrols, which resulted in the injury of a number of members." He said, "Our forces responded immediately to the sources of fire, and were able to arrest several people involved in these criminal acts, in addition to neutralizing a number of others."
The city of Latakia, which is inhabited by a large percentage of the Alawite sect, witnessed security tensions in the first days after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's rule, which have recently subsided.
Attacks are still being recorded at security forces' checkpoints from time to time, sometimes carried out by gunmen loyal to Assad, or former members of the Syrian army, according to the observatory.
The New Regime's Narrative
The HTS government in Syria claims that its military operation in in eastern Syria is targeting members of the former regime (fulul al-nizam al-ba'id), as reported by Aljazeera, Qatar's TV network that supported HTS since the start of the violence in 2011.
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