Cairo, Mar 18 (EFE).- More than 4,700 Syrian civilians have been killed in the first 100 days following the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, as sectarian violence and chaos grip the war-torn nation, a UK-based war monitor reported Tuesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 1,800 of the victims were killed in sectarian attacks, as Syria descended into a state of chaos following Assad’s forced departure on Dec. 8, 2024, to Moscow.
Since then, a total of 6,316 people have been killed across all Syrian provinces, including 4,711 civilians, among them 345 women and 194 children, while military casualties stood at 1,605, according to the observatory.
The monitor said 1,805 deaths were the result of field executions and killings based on «sectarian identity and affiliation with the previous regime.»
Most of these occurred in March, with pro-Assad militants launching attacks on Syrian Interior and Defense Ministry checkpoints along the coast, particularly on Mar. 6.
The report warned that the fall of the old regime created a power vacuum, allowing armed groups and opportunists to exploit the situation for personal gain.
The observatory noted that while the Islamist-led coalition that toppled Assad, spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a coalition of Sunni Islamist insurgent groups that evolved from “Nusrah Front,” al-Qaeda’s former branch in Syria, initially kept violence in check, conditions worsened significantly by late February.
A wave of coordinated attacks by Assad loyalists in Alawite-majority western Syria targeted Defense Ministry officials, triggering a brutal crackdown.
The security forces and groups aligned with the new government in Damascus retaliated with extrajudicial executions and revenge killings.
The Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shia Islam, was heavily favored during more than five decades of Assad family rule, particularly in the security apparatus.
Under both Hafez and Bashar al-Assad, Alawites held key positions in the government and military. EFE
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