Syrian forces loyal to the new government and those to former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad have produced bloody clashes over the past few days, killing several hundred Christian, Druze, and Alawite civilians in the crossfire.
The new Syrian government has yet to firmly establish a safe foothold in the country and faces threats from Assad sympathizers who supported his decadeslong rule.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 500 people have been killed since Thursday in the coastal provinces of Tartus and Latakia, including 300 civilians. Most of the civilians were killed by government soldiers.
Another monitoring group, Syrian Network for Human Rights, said the government killed 125 civilians. They alleged that the soldiers didn’t discriminate between enemy fighters and civilians.
Syrian government officials have denied the accusations, saying they rejected “undocumented allegations accusing government forces of committing violations.” They did confirm that investigations will be conducted and they would punish those who hurt civilians.
“The Syrian government confirms that its forces operate according to strict standards that respect international humanitarian law and are keen to protect civilians during their operations,” a ministry statement said.
The violence began on Thursday, with Assad loyalists killing 16 government soldiers in the Latakia province before violence further spread to the Tartus province. The two regions are known for having strong ties to Assad.
The new government responded to the attack on their soldiers by deploying thousands of troops to the region, potentially endangering civilians further if they are caught up in the war effort. Helicopters with machine guns and outfitted with crude bombs have also been used.
Observers of the Syrian conflict are using the new government’s alleged conduct against civilians as evidence of vindication for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard‘s past association with Assad. Gabbard controversially met with him as a U.S. Representative in 2017.
“BREAKING: Slaughter of Christians and Alawites in Syria increasing. Up to 125,000 dead. Tulsi Gabbard was right. Liberal interventionism on steroids. Take out one bad guy, who at least has stability, and replace with jihadist killers. Evil. Reports say remaining Russians allowing civilians onto bases,” National Organization for Marriage co-founder Brian Brown said in a post on X.
Many senators, Republican and Democrat alike, questioned Gabbard’s meeting with Assad. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he’d need to see her confirmation hearing to decide how he felt, and to answer some questions he had.
“Why did you go to Syria? What did you do regarding Assad?” he asked during the hearing.
Nevertheless, Gabbard was confirmed via a 52-48 vote with the only Republican voting against being Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
TRACKING WHAT DOGE IS DOING ACROSS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
The Assad regime was ousted in December, forcing the former Syrian leader to flee to Russia.
The new Syrian government is still in a transitional phase with Ahmed al-Sharaa as its new president.
