The current de facto government in Damascus was formed by members of HTS, a Sunni Islamist group designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government. HTS emerged from al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of the al-Qaeda terrorist group.
On March 9, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Syrian authorities to “hold the perpetrators of these massacres” accountable. Rubio said the United States “stands with Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities.”
In a statement on March 9, al-Sharaa announced the formation of a fact-finding committee “to investigate the coastal events, bring the perpetrators to justice, and reveal the facts to the Syrian people so that everyone knows who is responsible for these seditions and plots.”
Videos circulating on social media during the weekend appeared to show HTS members killing Alawites and other minorities. The interim president said the fact-finding committee would examine the footage.
Ousted leader Bashar al-Assad and his father Hafez, who ruled for decades before him, were both Alawites, a Muslim sect that is considered heretical by many Sunni Muslims. Alawites are concentrated along the Syrian coast and in cities such as Latakia and Tartus.
“We will also announce the formation of a higher committee to maintain civil peace, which will be tasked by the presidency of the republic with direct communication with the residents of the Syrian coast, listening to them, and providing the necessary support to ensure their security and stability, and to strengthen national unity during this sensitive phase,” al-Sharaa said.
On March 10, in an interview with Reuters, al-Sharaa said: “Syria is a state of law. The law will take its course on all. We fought to defend the oppressed, and we won’t accept that any blood be shed unjustly, or goes without punishment or accountability, even among those closest to us.”
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has monitored the country throughout its civil war since 2011, said that more than 1,000 people were killed in the past week, including 745 civilians.
The observatory estimated that 125 members of government security forces have also been killed, along with 148 members of groups aligned with former Syrian leader Assad.
Exact casualty figures could not be independently verified.
Defense Ministry spokesperson Colonel Hassan Abdul Ghani said, “To the remnants of the defeated regime and its fleeing officers, our message is clear and unequivocal: If you return, we will return, and you will face men who know no retreat and show no mercy to those whose hands are stained with the blood of innocents.”
His words echoed those of al-Sharaa, who said: “We assure the Syrian people and all those who care about our country that we will not tolerate the remnants of Assad who committed crimes against our army forces and state institutions, attacked hospitals, killed innocent civilians, and spread chaos in safe areas. These individuals have only one option: to surrender to the law immediately.”
