Whole families dead in recent Syria violence, says UN

Entire families, including women and children, were killed during the recent violence in Syria’s coastal region, the UN human rights office says.

A spokesman told reporters that the UN had so far verified the killing of 111 civilians since last Thursday, but that the actual figure was believed to be significantly higher.

Many of the cases were summary executions and appeared to have been carried out on a sectarian basis, with predominantly Alawite areas targeted in particular, he added.

Gunmen supporting the Sunni Islamist-led government have been accused of carrying out revenge killings following a deadly ambush on a security patrol by loyalists of president Bashar al-Assad, who is an Alawite.

A monitoring group has reported that more than 1,200 civilians, most of them Alawites, have been killed in Latakia, Tatous, Hama and Homs provinces.

The UN has welcomed the promise by Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa to form an independent investigative committee and to hold those responsible to account.

The violence was the worst in Syria since Sharaa led the rebel offensive that overthrew Assad in December, ending 13 years of civil war in which more than 600,000 people were killed.

Syria’s north-west Mediterranean coast is the heartland of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam to which many of the former Assad regime’s political and military elite belonged.

Last week, security forces launched an operation in the region in response to a growing insurgency by Assad loyalists.

The violence escalated on Thursday, after 13 security personnel were killed in an ambush by gunmen in the coastal town of Jableh.

Security forces responded by sending reinforcements to the region, who were joined by armed groups and individuals supporting the government.

They stormed many Alawite towns and villages across the region, where residents said they carried out revenge killings and looted homes and shops.

A spokesperson for the UN human rights office, Thameen Al-Kheetan, said on Tuesday that reports were continuing to emerge of the “distressing scale of the violence”.

He said the UN, using strict verification methods, had so far documented the killings of 90 male civilians, 18 women, two girls and one boy.

Initial reports indicated that the perpetrators were members of armed groups supporting the security forces and elements associated with the Assad regime, he added.

“In a number of extremely disturbing instances, entire families – including women, children and individuals hors de combat – were killed, with predominantly Alawite cities and villages targeted in particular,” he said, referring to combatants who have been captured, expressed an intention to surrender, or are incapacitated.

“According to many testimonies collected by our office, perpetrators raided houses, asking residents whether they were Alawite or Sunni before proceeding to either kill or spare them accordingly. Some survivors told us that many men were shot dead in front of their families.”

Assad loyalists also raided several hospitals in Latakia, Tartous and Baniyas, according to Mr Kheetan. They clashed with security forces, reportedly resulting in dozens of civilian casualties, including patients and medics, was well as damage to the hospitals.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said its civilian death toll had risen to 1,225, after another 132 people were reported killed on Tuesday, including 62 in the town of Baniyas. About 230 security personnel and 250 pro-Assad fighters have also been killed, according to its network of sources.

Mr Kheetan said the UN human rights chief urged Syrian authorities to carry out prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations.

“All those found responsible for violations must be held to account, regardless of their affiliation, in line with international law norms and standards. Victims and their families have the right to truth, justice and reparations,” he stressed.

A spokesman for the new investigative committee set up by the government said it was already “gathering and reviewing evidence” and would present a report in 30 days.

“No-one is above the law. The committee will relay all the results to the entity that launched it, the presidency, and the judiciary,” Yasser Farhan told a news conference.

The state-run Sana news agency also reported that four people had been arrested over “bloody violations against civilians” in a coastal village after they were identified in videos.

Meanwhile, residents of the region said the situation appeared calm on Tuesday, with only sporadic gunfire heard overnight.

A man who fled the town of Baniyas three days ago told the BBC that he had managed to get back to his home to check on it because security forces had set up checkpoints in the neighbourhood to prevent further killings and looting.

The man, who asked to remain anonymous, also said the bodies which had been lying on the streets of Baniyas last week were no longer there.

The Syrian Red Crescent, with the help of security forces, was said to be recovering bodies and burying them in mass graves in the town’s cemetery.

However, most families have not returned home, because they are traumatised by what happened and worried about their safety, amid reports of continued killings and looting.

Many sought refuge at the Russian-controlled Hmeimim airbase outside the city of Latakia, sheltered in local schools or fled to rural areas.

Others crossed into neighbouring Lebanon, where a woman told the BBC that armed men had attacked her house in rural Hama two months ago and killed men from her family.

“My nephews were 11 and 12 years old. They rounded them up and lined up all the other young Alawite men,” Hind said.

“One of them asked his friend about our religion. He said, ‘They are Alawites,’ so he pointed his gun and killed all the men in front of him.”

“They see us as guilty just because our president was Alawite. But the truth is we are the poorest. Our young men joined the military only to be taken to fight and to be killed.”

A young man named Wissam said he no longer trusted the government and security forces.

“They’re all the same – armed and with covered faces. They have privileges that no-one else has. They do whatever they want,” he claimed.