Gunmen killed at least 24 men in an Alawite town in Syria’s coastal region on Friday, according to two Alawite activists and a war monitor, citing regional contacts and video footage from the scene.
The video, which media verified as showing the location of Al Mukhtareyah, near the M4 highway, depicted the bodies of at least 20 men, some bloodied, lying along a road in the town’s center. The footage was consistent with satellite imagery of the area, including identifiable landmarks such as roads, buildings, trees, and utility poles.
While the exact date and source of the footage could not be independently verified, the shadows in the video indicated it was filmed in the morning within the past two months.
Since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last year, Alawite activists report ongoing violence against their community, particularly in rural Homs and Latakia. Assad’s regime had drawn heavily on Alawites for positions within the security apparatus and bureaucracy.
Rami Abdulrahman, director of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, stated that local sources had reported 38 Alawite men were executed in the town. “Gunmen arrived at dawn from the Idlib region, rounded up the men, and ordered the women to stay at home before executing the men,” Abdulrahman said.
The two anonymous Alawite activists, speaking under condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the situation, confirmed the killings and attributed them to gunmen affiliated with Syria’s new Islamist ruling authority.
Attempts to reach a government spokesperson and officials associated with the ruling authority for comment were unsuccessful.
In response to the attacks, Syrian security forces have deployed reinforcements from their stronghold in Idlib and nearby regions to suppress a nascent insurgency believed to be linked to remnants of Assad’s forces.
Abdulrahman also reported additional incidents over the past 24 hours, including the deaths and public humiliation of Alawite men, though Reuters was unable to independently verify these claims.