IN one of the deadliest outbreaks of violence in Syria, over 1,000 people have been killed in clashes between security forces and loyalists of former President Bashar al-Assad.
The violence, which erupted on Thursday, saw government-backed gunmen launching “revenge killings” against the Alawite minority sect that had remained loyal to Assad.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 745 civilians lost their lives, many in close-range shootings.
Additionally, 125 members of the government’s security forces and 148 militants affiliated with Assad’s loyalist groups were killed in the unrest.
Authorities have since moved to quell the violence and restore order, closing all roads leading to the coastal region where the bloodshed was concentrated.
While the situation has temporarily calmed, the attacks have deepened tensions in the war-ravaged country.
Alawite homes torched
Under Assad’s rule, the Alawite community occupied powerful positions in the military and government.
However, since the new regime assumed control three months ago, members of the sect have been repeatedly targeted in reprisal attacks
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that electricity and drinking water supplies were severed in Alawite-majority areas of Latakia amid the violence.
Residents described scenes of destruction, with homes looted and set alight.
Haidar Nasser, a Lebanese politician who holds one of the two parliamentary seats allocated to the Alawite sect in Lebanon, stated that many members of the community were fleeing to Lebanon in search of safety.
Women paraded naked
Amid the chaos, horrifying acts of brutality have been reported. Witnesses told the Associated Press that women were stripped and paraded naked through the streets before being shot dead.
In Baniyas, one of the towns worst affected by the violence, corpses were seen lying on roads and rooftops, as gunmen prevented families from burying their dead.
“It was very, very bad. Bodies were on the streets,” a resident recounted while fleeing the town.
Gunmen reportedly fired indiscriminately, torching homes and vehicles in their wake.
