Syrian Alawites mobilize against government-led massacres
The Alawite religious leader in Syria has issued a protest call following attacks carried out by state-sponsored tribal militias in Homs
News Desk
NOV 25, 2025
Thousands of Alawite civilians were massacred in March this year by Syrian government forces during a violent crackdown to quell an armed uprising carried out by members of the community.
Since then, the Alawite community has been disarmed by Damascus and has been left vulnerable to sectarian attacks and killing sprees. Young Alawite girls continue to disappear as a result of government-linked kidnapping networks, and Alawite men are regularly executed.
Thousands of Druze civilians were also massacred by government forces during clashes in Suwayda earlier this year.
The Syrian army is predominantly made up of what used to be known as the Al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Numerous other extremist factions with links to ISIS have been made official brigades in the Syrian military since the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government and the collapse of his army last year.
Government violence against minorities in Syria over the past year has prompted some to call for federalism, or the division of the country along sectarian lines.
Observers have also speculated that Israel, which established a large-scale occupation in Syria after Assad was ousted, has been pushing for federalism in a bid to divide Syria.
These speculations gained more traction after the massacres of the Druze in Suwayda in July, when Israel was publicly calling for their protection and vowing to “defend” minorities in Syria.
“The Israeli aim is to keep Syria as a weak state, divided into autonomous zones drawn along ethnic lines, and to prevent the new Syrian government from uniting Syria,” the US think tank, Atlantic Council, said in April.
Syrian Alawites mobilize against government-led massacres
Sounds like Islamic State is a significant factor in the government. IS fighters were paid and recruited with promise that they could establish homesteads while executing Syrian men and take their women as wives. |
