Western Syria clashes (December 2024–present)
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| Western Syria clashes (December 2024–present) | |||||||||
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| Part of Syrian civil war and the Fall of the Assad regime | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Syria |
 Neo-Ba'athist insurgents | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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| Units involved | |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 29+ killed or wounded [1][2] | 3 killed, hundreds captured[1] | ||||||||
Following the fall of the Assad regime after several offensives launched by opposition groups between late November and early December 2024, several clashes between Assad loyalists and incumbent Syrian transitional government forces have occurred primarily in hold-outs in the Alawite-majority Tartus and Latakia Governorates, as well as in western Hama and Homs Governorates.
Government action was taken to comb through villages in Western Syria in order to find and arrest or take down officers and officials associated with war crimes of the Assad regime during the Syrian civil war. The clashes were triggered by the proliferation of videos on social media showing footage of an attack on the Abu Abdullah al-Hussein al-Khusseibi shrine in Aleppo, which occurred in November. This led to the incitement of several demonstrations and civil unrest among Alawite communities by Assad loyalist elements in Western Syria.
Background
[edit]In December 2024, a swift military campaign led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) faction successfully overthrew the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, ending over five decades of Assad family rule in Syria. The offensive, originating in the country's northwestern region, resulted in Assad and his family seeking refuge in Russia. HTS emir and military commander Ahmad al-Sharaa emerged as Syria's de facto leader following the fall of Damascus, with the majority of Syrian Armed Forces troops surrendering, fleeing the country, or defecting.[3]
Civil unrest
[edit]Escalating tensions were reported across Syria, particularly in regions with significant Alawite populations, with civil unrest emerging in multiple locations including Tartus, Latakia, and Qardaha. Demonstrations from the Alawite community occurred with the purpose of defending Alawite religious rights and in fear of potential retribution, due to many members being associated with the former regime's documented human rights violations.[3]
On 15 December 2024, The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights reported that pro-Assad insurgents were meeting with village leaders in Latakia Governorate, instructing them to resist actions from the newly implemented Military Operations Administration in order to defend "the Alawite sect".[4]
On 22 December, civilian demonstrations erupted in the Al-Bahluliyah district east of Latakia, following allegations of misconduct by Syrian government security forces, demanding for the complete withdrawal of Syrian security forces from the village. The incident involved armed individuals claiming affiliation with the Syrian government forcibly entered the residence of Al-Bahluliyah's Mukhtar. The intruders reportedly brandished weapons at young residents in the neighborhood and committed various acts of misconduct, including verbal and physical abuse against family members and a girl. Protesters chanted "Death rather than humiliation" in response.[5]
Abu Abdullah al-Hussein al-Khusseibi shrine attack
[edit]On 25 December, demonstrations in Syrian Alawite communities intensified in response to videos showing footage of armed men desecrating the Abu Abdullah al-Hussein al-Khusseibi shrine in Aleppo dedicated to the founder of Alawite branch, regarded as one of the branch's most venerated locations globally. The attackers killed five shrine custodians, desecrated their remains, vandalized the sacred site, and set fire to the structure.[3][6] The video provoked outrage among sections of Syria's Alawite population.[7]
The demonstrations erupted across multiple neighborhoods in Homs, including Al-Khudari, Wadi Al-Dhahab, Al-Zahraa, Al-Sabil, Al-Abbasiya, and Al-Muhajireen. Protesters expressed outrage over the shrine attack through sectarian chants and public demonstrations, with religious and community leaders denouncing it as an attack on Alawite religious heritage and identity while calling for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. Protesters also demanded greater security be granted to the community by the government, and for it to remove all of the extremist and foreign elements from its military. Several protesters were arrested in Homs, Tartus, and Jableh.[8] The Syrian General Security Forces, operating under the new government's Military Operations Department, opened fire to disperse the crowd in Homs, resulting in one protester's death and five others sustaining injuries from gunfire.[6]
In response to rising tensions, the new government enhanced its security presence in Alawite-dominated regions. Public Security Forces implemented a curfew across Homs, Jableh, and Banias, while military reinforcements established security perimeters around the Akrama and Al-Nahda neighborhoods to stop further unrest. They also established military checkpoints for civilians to hand over their weapons, and set up loudspeakers in mosques instructing them to do so within 24 hours. Many, especially officers associated with the Assad regime, refused to do so.[3][9]
Clashes
[edit]On 14 December, pro-Assad gunmen ambushed Sham Legion fighters in al-Muzayri'a in the Latakia countryside, killing or wounding fifteen troops.[10] On the same day, a raid on Al-Mazra’a in Hama Governorate, regarded as a significant Hezbollah stronghold, was launched by the Syrian Military Operations Administration, resulting in the arrests of "dozens of young men accused of committing previous violations against the people of the area".[11]
On 18 December, the Military Operations Administration conducted several raids in Hama and Homs Governorates and in several coastal areas to seek out Assad-associated figures and war criminals.[12]
Tartus Governorate campaign
[edit]On 25 December, unidentified armed groups conducted synchronized assaults on multiple security checkpoints in the western Hama countryside with RPG launchers and heavy machine guns, killing one Syrian government troop and injuring another.[13] On the same day, a contingent of the General Security Forces –a police unit loyal to the new government– made their way to the Khirbet al-Ma'zah village in the southern Tartus Governorate. They intended to arrest Major General Mohammad Kanjo Al-Hassan who had headed the Military Justice Administration and Field Court during the rule of the Assad regime; he was regarded as one of those responsible for the mass murders in Saydnaya Prison. Upon entering the village, the General Security Forces were ambushed by militants, with 14 policemen and three attackers being killed. According to SOHR, loyalists of Mohammed Kanjo Hassan and another former Ba'athist officer, Suhayl al-Hasan, were responsible for the ambush.[1] The militants were led by Mohammed Kanjo Hassan's brother and expelled the security forces from the village.[14] The transitional government described the ambush as an attack by Assad loyalists. A curfew was declared at several cities.[7]
The government's Military Operations Command subsequently ordered the arrest of the attackers and sent reinforcements to secure Khirbet al-Ma'zah.[1] By 26 December, the Military Operations Command was conducting a large-scale campaign across Tartus Governorate, searching homes and securing the countryside. Major General Mohammad Kanjo Al-Hassan was reportedly captured in Khirbet al-Ma'zah.[14][15] Three gunmen associated with al-Hassan were also killed in the gun fight.[16] Other villages in the Tartus Governorate saw an "mass escape of former regime members".[14] Two armed individuals from the village of Al-Zarqat, identified as regime loyalists or "shabiha," were killed after engaging in armed conflict with General Security Forces. The security campaign prompted many former regime officials implicated in crimes against Syrian civilians to flee from several villages, including Al-Zuraiqat, Khirbet al-Ma'zah, and surrounding areas.[15] In addition, four Syrian government troops were killed during a raid on a pro-Assad holdout containing trafficking ringleader Shujaa al-Ali in Balqsa, western Homs Governorate.[17]
Civilian casualties
[edit]On 14 December, the brother of the imam of the Great Prophet Mosque in Masyaf, Hama, was executed with three bullets by masked assailants who pursued and abducted him, after the imam was accused of being associated with Iranian and Shia militias and conducting funerals for regional civilians.[18] Two civilians were kidnapped in Al-Zahraa, Homs. Their bodies were discovered in a cooling unit three days later.[19]
On 15 December, three civilians were killed in separate instances by unknown gunmen, one of whom was accused of being an Assad loyalist and tortured before being executed in Halfaya, Hama.[20]
On 16 December, a former Syrian Arab Army soldier and his brother were kidnapped by unknown assailants in a military vehicle as they were in line at a settlement center meant for resolving their security status in the new state. The two were killed, with their bodies disposed of in a forest Wa'er.[21] Masked assailants kidnapped a civilian at gunpoint in Al-Shajar, and executed him near an al-Ghab agricultural research center northwest of Hama.
On 17 December, one civilian was killed by gunmen in Al-Qusayr. Two more civilians were killed by unknown gunmen in Al-Suwaydah, Masyaf.[19] An armed group attacked civilians in Al-Shajar, and kidnapped a farmer who was later found dead with signs of having been tortured beforehand.[22]
On 18 December, a man in al-Tuwaim in the western Hama countryside was killed by two unidentified gunmen after he had tried to stop them from stealing his sheep.[23]
On 21 December, a young man was abducted from his home in Tartus by an unknown armed group after they promised to help him with resolving his security status in the new state, who executed him and mutilated his corpse.[24]
On 22 December, a young man was kidnapped near Homs, taken to Baniyas, and executed in a field by unknown gunmen.[25]
On 23 December, a man and woman were killed in Wadi Al-Nasara by unknown perpetrators.[26] A Yahmour, Homs resident was killed by unknown gunmen after being accused of loyalty to the Assad regime.[27] An unidentified man was found killed by a "field execution" near the Ras Al-Shamra roundabout in Latakia. After one group of unknown gunmen raided and left Hadidah, a second group entered and killed two civilians for unknown reasons.[28]
On 24 December, three Alawite judges were executed by unknown gunmen while travelling in the western Hama countryside.[29] Several gunmen attacked and looted the residents of seven houses in the Alawite-majority village of Jidrin.[30]
On 25 December, a medical student was shot dead by an unknown gunman in Latakia.[31] One civilian was found dead on the M4 Motorway in Ariha, Idlib, having been killed by a "field execution". Three more were killed by unknown gunmen in Tal Sarin, Hama.[32] An information engineering university student was executed in the countryside of Jableh by unknown gunmen.[29]
On 26 December, an armed group raided the western Hama Governorate village of Al-Aziziyah located in the Ghab Plain, and executed a civilian before arresting eight others and taking them to an unknown location.[33]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h "Armed clashes. 14 members of the General Security Forces killed in Tartous countryside". SOHR. 25 December 2024. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ https://www.syriahr.com/%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%AB%D8%A9-%D9%87%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B9%D9%80-%D9%80%D9%86%D9%81-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B8%D8%A9-%D8%B7%D8%B1%D8%B7%D9%88%D8%B3-%D8%A5/742377/
- ^ a b c d "Syria says 14 security personnel killed in ambush by Assad loyalists". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
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- ^ a b السوري, المرصد (2024-12-25). "مقتل متظاهر وإصابة 5 آخرين في مدينة حمص.. وإدارة العمليات العسكرية تطوق أحياء في المدينة | المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان" (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-12-27.
- ^ a b "Syria: Pro-Assad 'remnants' kill police officers in ambush". Middle East Eye. 26 December 2024. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ السوري, المرصد (2024-12-25). "بعد مظاهرات عارمة.. قوى الأمن العام تفرض حظرا للتجوال في حمص وبانياس وجبلة | المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان" (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-12-27.
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- ^ a b c "Amid escape of several wanted individuals and arrest of dozens, including "Kanjo" Military Operations Directorate launches combing operation in Tartous countryside". SOHR. 26 December 2024. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ a b السوري, المرصد (2024-12-26). "تصفية "شبيح" ومقتل اثنين من المتورطين بقتل عناصر الأمن العام في الساحل السوري | المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان" (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-12-27.
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- ^ السوري, المرصد (2024-12-26). "في مواجهات مع فلول النظام و"شجاع العلي".. مقتل 4 عناصر من إدارة العمليات العسكرية | المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان" (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-12-27.
- ^ "لزعزعة السلم الأهلي.. ملثمون يختطفون مواطنا من منزله ويقتلونه | المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان" (in Arabic). 2024-12-16. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
- ^ a b "مقتل 6 أشخاص في 4 جرائم منفصلة في مناطق سورية متفرقة | المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان" (in Arabic). 2024-12-17. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
- ^ "مقتل 6 مواطنين بينهم 4 من عائلة واحدة بجرائم في حماة والقنيطرة | المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان" (in Arabic). 2024-12-15. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
- ^ "بعد اختطافهما من أمام مركز التسوية.. مقتل ضابط في قوات النظام وشقيقه في مدينة حمص | المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان" (in Arabic). 2024-12-16. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
- ^ السوري, المرصد (2024-12-17). "استمراراً للفوضى.. مقتل 5 مواطنين واختطاف آخرين في سوريا | المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان" (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-12-27.
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- ^ a b "مسلحون يعدمون شابا في ريف جبلة.. ومطالب أهلية بإفراد "الهيئة" بمهمة حماية أمن المنطقة | المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان" (in Arabic). 2024-12-25. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
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- ^ السوري, المرصد (2024-12-25). "مقتل طالب في كلية "الطب البشري" في اللاذقية | المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان" (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-12-27.
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