Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart before a podcasters.

Only last week, Ahmed al-Sharaa was in Cairo helping to devise a viable alternative to Donald Trump’s vision for Gaza.

Dressed in a smart Western suit, Syria’s interim president was welcomed as an equal by some of the most important political leaders of the Arab world.

It marked an extraordinary rise for the former Islamist militant who so brilliantly defeated Bashar al-Assad in December.

Since then, he has opened up Damascus to Western leaders and journalists to sell his vision of a new stable and inclusive Syria.

Those hopes now teeter on the edge of ruin, given the bloodletting of minorities in the country’s Mediterranean west coast since Thursday.

Sharaa’s government now stands accused of massacring members of minority groups – Alawites, Christians and Druze – in response to a series of ambushes by gunmen apparently loyal to the former regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Approximately 750 civilians have been killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based war monitor.

About 125 members of the Syrian security forces have been killed, plus 148 fighters said to be loyal to Assad.

It marks an episode bloody enough to rival the worst body counts of Syria’s long-running civil war.

A joint statement by Orthodox Christian Patriarchs said: “In recent days, Syria has witnessed a dangerous escalation of violence, brutality, and killings, resulting in attacks on innocent civilians, including women and children.

“Homes have been violated, their sanctity disregarded, and properties looted – scenes that starkly reflect the immense suffering endured by the Syrian people.”

The accuracy of the numbers is yet to be confirmed; as well as the question of how far up or down the chain of command responsibility for any mass executions rests.

Either way, as of Sunday night, the international damage appeared perilously close to having been done.

Footage emerged on Sunday of thousands of civilians, apparently from minority groups, seeking sanctuary from, of all people, Vladimir Putin at one of Russia’s few remaining military bases in the country.

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, condemned the “radical Islamic terrorists” that he said had “murdered people in western Syria”.

Washington’s reaction could be particularly damaging, as Syria’s fledgling government is desperate for the US to lift Assad-era sanctions.

It might also find itself in serious trouble if Mr Trump withdraws the small but effective force of roughly 2,000 US troops stationed in the east of the country who currently keep Islamic State at bay.

Israel lost no time in blaming the new “Islamist rulers” in Damascus for the “barbaric murder of civilians”, while quietly expanding its military operations in the country’s south, largely free from international scrutiny.

Sharaa has now called for a national committee to investigate the violence.

On Sunday, he said: “We have to preserve national unity and domestic peace, we can live together.”

Speaking at a mosque in his childhood neighbourhood of Mazzah, Damascus, he added: “Rest assured about Syria, this country has the characteristics for survival... What is currently happening in Syria is within the expected challenges.”

The current crisis began on Thursday, in a part of the country that has always posed a security challenge for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) because of its high proportion of Alawites, the minority Shia sect of Assad and so many senior regime and military figures.

Although it is difficult to parse the identities and motivations of the various armed groups, experts have assumed that some were originally militia belonging to Assad henchmen who had so much blood on their hands that they would never be taken alive.

Others were thought to be merely groups of Alawites who were reluctant to disarm because they did not trust the new Sunni rulers to protect them against sectarian reprisals.

Whatever its original composition, in recent weeks a growing anti-regime insurgency, perhaps numbering more than 5,000 fighters, has been detected in Syria’s west.

Government forces have been conducting security sweeps since the start of the year, with various clashes reported and some allegations of summary killings by forces allied to the new regime.

On Thursday, 16 troops from the ministry of defence and the government’s security force were reportedly ambushed and killed around the major towns of Jableh and Latakia on Syria’s coast.

This prompted a series of outraged demonstrations across Syria, particularly in the former HTS stronghold of Idlib, from where these particular troops had originated.

One imam reportedly used a loudhailer to call for “jihad”.

Reinforcements began to converge on the affected area, including from the major cities Idlib, Aleppo and Homs – social media flooded with images of government soldiers or HTS-allied fighters setting off for the new front.

Further fighting against the Alawite militias ensued, with government forces reportedly establishing greater control throughout Friday.

During this time, two scenarios seemed to be at play.

One was a series of extremely aggressive counter-attacks by government-aligned forces using heavy weapons such as tanks, rockets, machine guns and drones.

Many civilians, including women and children, were reportedly caught up in these offensives.

The second was deliberate massacres.

Although their provenance has been difficult to verify, numerous videos have emerged of, in some cases, dozens of dead bodies, some with their hands bound, others of what look like mass graves.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had received numerous reports of summary executions in the security sweeps that followed the pro-Assad ambushes.

In one instance on Friday, ISF, a branch of the new regime’s security forces, reportedly killed 69 Alawites in one go.

This comes amid reports that multiple government troops were executed near the city of Qardaha.

For a regime that was desperate to convince the outside world that it would not allow Syria to become the next Iraq, it has been a devastating few days.

Dr Burcu Ozcelik, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said: “The nightmarish violence and revenge killings that targeted Alawite villages in Syria’s coastal areas of Latakia and Tartous are warnings in real time about the fragility of the security situation in Syria. It is also a reminder of the existential challenges that the interim government in Damascus faces as it centralises security services under severe duress.”

Dr Ozcelik drew attention to the multi-tiered structure of Syria’s new security apparatus, with different levels of loyalty to the centre.

“There are several tiers made up of rebel factions under the top HTS command, each with varying levels of loyalty to the centre.

“The hardliner jihadi, mainly foreign, fighters are the farthest away from the central command structure controlled by Sharaa, and the most dangerous.”

She said the latest round of violence had “undermined” Sharaa.

‘Down a dangerous path’

However, Dr Ozcelik added: “Reacting to the violence by moving to delegitimise the interim government and the ministry of defence in its entirety – even though Sharaa has condemned the violence – rather than punish the perpetrators from the irregular factions responsible may take Syria down a dangerous path.”

Acceptance of Syria’s new government has, to a limited extent, crept into the political discourse in the West, with those further on the Right criticising politicians and journalists who have been seen as willing to give the new regime a chance.

Foreign ministers have flocked to Damascus. The narrative, particularly strong among EU countries, was that he might just have what it takes to hold Syria together following 50 years of murderous kleptocracy and 13 years of civil war.

Mr Rubio said: “The United States condemns the radical Islamist terrorists, including foreign jihadis, that [have] murdered people in western Syria in recent days.

“The United States stands with Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities, and offers its condolences to the victims and their families.”

https://www.amazon.com/Africircle-AfriPrime/dp/B0D2M3F2JT

Syria president calls for unity after reports of mass killings

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa called for national unity and peace on Sunday, after more than 1,000 people were reportedly killed in coastal Syria in the worst clashes since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

The violence erupted on Thursday between the new security forces and loyalists of the former government along the Mediterranean coast in the heartland of the Alawite minority to which Assad belonged.

It has since escalated into the largest challenge to the new government's forces since Sharaa's Islamist-led coalition toppled Assad in December.

"We must preserve national unity (and) civil peace as much as possible and, God willing, we will be able to live together in this country," Sharaa said from a mosque in Damascus

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor has reported that 745 Alawite civilians were killed in Latakia and Tartus provinces.

The Britain-based Observatory said they were killed in "executions" carried out by security personnel or pro-government fighters, accompanied by the "looting of homes and properties".

The fighting has also killed 125 members of the security forces and 148 pro-Assad fighters, according to the Observatory, taking the overall death toll to 1,018.

The official SANA news agency reported on Saturday that security forces had deployed to Latakia, as well as Jableh and Baniyas further south, to restore order.

Baniyas resident Samir Haidar, 67, told AFP two of his brothers and his niece were killed by "armed groups" that entered people's homes, adding that there were "foreigners among them".

Though himself an Alawite, Haidar was part of the leftist opposition to the Assads and was imprisoned for more than a decade under their rule.

Defence ministry spokesman Hassan Abdul Ghani said the security forces had "reimposed control" over areas that had seen attacks by Assad loyalists.

"It is strictly forbidden to approach any home or attack anyone inside their homes," he added in a video posted by SANA.

- Roads blocked -

Education Minister Nazir al-Qadri announced that schools would remain shut on Sunday and Monday in both Latakia and Tartus provinces due to the "unstable security conditions".

SANA reported a power outage throughout Latakia province due to attacks on the grid by Assad loyalists.

The killings followed clashes sparked by the arrest of a wanted suspect in a predominantly Alawite village, the Observatory reported.

The monitor said there had been a "relative return to calm" in the region on Saturday, as the security forces deployed reinforcements.

A defence ministry source told SANA that troops had blocked roads leading to the coast to prevent "violations", without specifying who was committing them.

Latakia province security director Mustafa Kneifati told the news agency: "We will not allow for sedition or the targeting of any component of the Syrian people."

Sharaa's Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the lightning offensive that toppled Assad in December, has its roots in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda and remains proscribed as a terrorist organisation by many governments including the United States.

Since the rebel victory, it has moderated its rhetoric and vowed to protect Syria's religious and ethnic minorities.

- Fear of reprisals -

The Alawite heartland has been gripped by fear of reprisals for the Assad family's brutal rule, which included widespread torture and disappearances.

Social media users have shared posts documenting the killing of Alawite friends and relatives.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, has reported multiple "massacres" in recent days, with women and children among the dead.

The Observatory and activists released footage showing dozens of bodies in civilian clothing piled outside a house, with blood stains nearby and women wailing.

Other videos appeared to show men in military garb shooting people at close range.

AFP could not independently verify the images or accounts.

The leaders of Syria's three main Christian churches as well as the spiritual leader of Syria's Druze minority issued statements calling for an end to the violence.

Aron Lund of the Century International think tank said the violence was "a bad omen".

The new government lacks the tools, incentives and local support base to engage with disgruntled Alawites, he said.

"All they have is repressive power, and a lot of that... is made up of jihadist zealots who think Alawites are enemies of God."

https://www.amazon.com/Africircle-AfriPrime/dp/B0D2M3F2JT

Syria's Sharaa scrambles to contain deadliest violence in years

Syria's leader vowed on Sunday to hunt down the perpetrators of violent clashes pitting loyalists of deposed President Bashar al-Assad against the country's new Islamist rulers and said he would hold to account anyone who overstepped their authority.

The clashes, which a war monitoring group said had already killed over 1,000 people, mostly civilians, continued for a fourth day in Assad's coastal heartland.

In a speech broadcast on national television and posted on social media, Ahmed Sharaa, whose rebel movement toppled Assad in December, accused Assad loyalists and foreign powers that he did not name of trying to foment unrest.

"Today, as we stand at this critical moment, we find ourselves facing a new danger - attempts by remnants of the former regime and their foreign backers to incite new strife and drag our country into a civil war, aiming to divide it and destroy its unity and stability," he said.

The top commander of a Syrian Kurdish armed group, whose forces are in a separate battle with Turkey, had earlier blamed Turkish-backed Islamist factions for some of the most disturbing violence: the reported executions of civilians belonging to Assad's Alawite sect. Turkey did not immediately respond to the allegation.

At the United Nations in New York, diplomats said the United States and Russia have asked the Security Council to meet behind closed doors on Monday over the escalating violence in Syria.

Interim President Sharaa's office said it was forming an independent committee to investigate the clashes and killings by both sides. Syrians have circulated graphic videos of executions by fighters. Reuters could not immediately verify the videos.

"We will hold accountable, with full decisiveness, anyone who is involved in the bloodshed of civilians, mistreats civilians, exceeds the state's authority or exploits power for personal gain. No one will be above the law," Sharaa added in the video speech after earlier calling for national unity.

A Syrian security source earlier said the pace of fighting had slowed around the cities of Latakia, Jablah and Baniyas, while forces searched surrounding mountainous areas where an estimated 5,000 pro-Assad insurgents were hiding.

Assad fled to Russia last year after rebels led by Sharaa's Sunni Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group ousted his government, ending decades of severe repression and a devastating civil war. Some of his closest advisers and supporters were left behind.

Western countries, Arab states and Turkey backed the rebels and Russia, Iran and militias loyal to Tehran backed Assad in the civil war, which became a theatre for proxy conflicts among a kaleidoscope of armed factions with different loyalties and agendas. It has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions of Syrians.

Since Assad's overthrow, Turkish-backed groups have clashed with Kurdish forces that control much of northeastern Syria. Israel has separately struck military sites in Syria, and is lobbying the United States to keep Syria weak, sources have told Reuters.

GROWING INSURGENCY

Relative calm followed Assad's ousting, but violence has spiralled recently as forces linked to the new Islamist rulers began a crackdown on a growing insurgency from the Alawite sect.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said on Saturday that more than 1,000 people had been killed in two days of fighting. It said 745 were civilians, 125 members of the Syrian security forces and 148 fighters loyal to Assad.

Rami Abdulrahman, the head of the observatory, said on Sunday that the death toll was one of the highest since a chemical weapons attack by Assad's forces in 2013 killed some 1,400 people in a Damascus suburb.

Syrian security sources said more than 300 of their members had been killed in clashes with former army personnel owing allegiance to Assad in attacks that began on Thursday.

Syria's SANA state news agency reported on Sunday that a mass grave containing the bodies of recently killed security forces had been discovered near Qardaha, Assad's home town.

The attacks spiralled into revenge killings against Alawites, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that is the faith of some of Assad's most ardent supporters and became associated with Assad's wartime atrocities against Syria's mostly Sunni Muslim population.

The United States as well as U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk called on Syria's interim leadership to bring the perpetrators to justice.

RESIDENT SAYS HOMES BURNED

Mazloum Abdi, the Kurdish commander, said in written comments to Reuters that factions "supported by Turkey and Islamic extremists" were chiefly responsible for the violence, and asked Sharaa to hold them to account.

Damascus authorities have blamed summary executions of dozens of youths and deadly raids on homes in villages and towns inhabited by Syria's once-ruling minority on unruly armed militias who came to help the security forces.

A resident of the town of Qadmous told Reuters that people in the town and surrounding villages had fled to nearby fields to protect themselves. He said a convoy of fighters with tanks, heavy weapons and small drones had burned homes and cars along the main road near his town.

"We don't know how many people are killed yet because they haven't gone home and don't plan to for the next few days," said the resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

A security source said pro-Assad insurgents had attacked several public utilities in the last 24 hours, disrupting electricity and water supplies.

The Damascus authorities were also sending reinforcements to beef up their security presence in the mountainous Latakia province, where thick forests in rugged terrain were helping the anti-government fighters, another police source said.

https://www.amazon.com/Africircle-AfriPrime/dp/B0D2M3F2JT