According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), these killings were carried out by all sides involved in the clashes, including forces loyal to former President Bashar al-Assad, government forces, groups loosely affiliated with the Syrian government and individual gunmen.
In what has been the deadliest incident since Assad’s fall in early December, SNHR said Assad loyalists killed 172 members of the Syrian government’s security, police, and military forces, along with 211 civilians.
Armed forces participating in the military operations, which the monitor added include “factions and unregulated groups nominally affiliated with the Ministry of Defence”, killed at least 420 civilians and disarmed fighters, including 39 children, 49 women and 27 medical personnel.
SNHR clarified that it is not counting the deaths of non-state armed group members in clashes, as it considers these fatalities to be legal.
The report found that the Assad loyalist groups, who initiated the violence on Thursday, had carefully planned their attack and received training from military personnel who had served in the Assad government’s forces prior to its downfall.
“The attacking groups demonstrated a high level of military training and expertise, which was evident in their use of advanced tactics such as road blockades, targeting supply lines, and isolating battlefronts,” the report read.
These groups quickly overwhelmed the Syrian government’s weak positions in the area and attacked government and civilian areas and properties.
SNHR noted the targeting of cars with Idlib registration plates, as Idlib was the main opposition-held territory prior to the fall of Assad.
As military confrontations escalated on Friday, the monitor said that “the negative role of undisciplined armed groups supporting the authorities became apparent, as these forces were clearly not formally under the command of the ministries of defence and interior”.
“This resulted in a lack of control over these groups’ actions, leading to their perpetrating violations against civilians and causing widespread damage to public and private property,” the report added.
Civilians belonging to the Alawite sect, to which Assad and most of his loyalists belong, were particularly targeted in some of the attacks.
When initially trying to retake areas captured by Assad loyalist remnants, Syrian government forces used artillery and rocket bombardments, resulting in additional civilian casualties.
Executions and field killings were also documented, with entire families reportedly killed at times.
“Instances of direct clashes were also recorded between armed groups supporting the government’s security forces on one side and elements of the Internal Security Forces who attempted to prevent indiscriminate killings on the other,” SNHR said, adding, “In some cases, these clashes escalated into armed confrontations between the two sides.”
The report concluded that “serious violations” took place over the four-day insurgency and held “all parties” responsible for the bloodshed.
It raised the alarm over increasing sectarianism in Syria and called for justice and accountability.
In an interview with Reuters, Syrian Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said that his government had begun implementing measures to reassure Alawite citizens and bring them back home following the violence.
“I sent many committees to reassure people and bring them back,” he continued, adding, “A large number of them returned. They were afraid of something. But when we removed the factions and some of those [fighters] who entered randomly, we sent many committees to bring them back to the country. God willing, everyone will return.”
