The interim president of Syria, Ahmed al Sharaasaid Sunday that the wave of violence unleashed in the country’s coastal areas is “an expected challenge” and appealed to the “national unit”, after Damascus security forces have killed more than 740 civilians in four days of the military campaign.
“I want you to be calm about the situation in this country. What is happening in the country are expected challenges. We have to protect national unity and civil peace, “he told Sharaa in a speech offered in a Damascus mosque reproduced by Syrian media such as Syriatv television, affiliated with the new authorities.
This is the worse wave of violence since the fall of former president Bachar al Asad last December 8, Syria’s new security forces “have executed cold -blooded”, in the last three days, hundreds of civilians from the Alauita minorityto which the ex -president’s family belongs, in the coastal areas of the country.
According to him Syrian Observatory of Human Rightsat least 745 civilians have died at the hands of Damascus forces since Thursdaywhen insurgent groups loyal to Al Asad attacked troops of the new administration in the province of Latakia, fief of the family to the Asad and majority of Alauita.
The attack triggered Large -scale clashesin which all kinds of heavy weapons have been used, and that have been extended to other provinces such as tartús, also on the coast, and the Hama and Homs central administrative demarcationswhere more than 1,018 people have died.
Summary executions
However, Little more than 270 have been the fighters who died in the wave of violencewhich has had as main objective to the civilian population of the Alauita minority, which according to the Observatory has been the victim of “acts of revenge” by the government troops.
Videos that circulate on social networks, many of them verified by the Observatory and groups of activists, show the new Syrian forces and allied armed groups firing at close range against unarmed civilians and making “executions in cold blood”.
The observatory and other groups of activists foresee that The dead of the dead increases in the next few hours and dayssince many of these killings have taken place in private homes and in buildings.
Given this situation and the “massacre” of citizens, including women and children, The NGO called to the international community “To take urgent measures and send specialized international research teams to document the serious violations that have affected civilians.”
Likewise, he asked the Damascus authorities to “demand responsibilities” to their troops involved in these actions, considering that “Impunity encourages the repetition of crimes in the future, which threatens political and social stability in Syria after the fall of Al Asad.”
The Arab League -What at the time he celebrated the overthrow of the former president of Syria and celebrated the arrival of the new authorities-, he condemned in a statement the attacks against security forces, but also “the uncontrolled murders” that are taking place in the coastal areas of the country.
Also the Orthodox Greek churches, Melquita and Syrian Orthodox Catholic of Syria condemned this Saturday “The massacres against innocent civilians” at the hands of security forces.
Measures against transgressions
The new Syrian forces are mostly composed of ex -combatants of the now dissolved Islamist alliance Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS)the group that led the offensive against the ASAD and whose roots come from In front of the Nusra, the former Al Qaeda in Syria.
The new Syrian administration has not explicitly recognized these acts, although it has claimed that it will take legal measures and will account for everyone who has committed “excesses” or “acts of revenge” against the civilian population During military operations aimed at turning off the insurgency spotlights of loyal groups to the Asad.
In fact, the Syrian Defense Ministry announced The formation of an “emergency committee” in charge of “following the infractions and sending to military trial to whom the instructions of the command skip during the last military and security operation”.
The department recalled that by order of the interim president of Syria, Ahmed al Sharaa, all the security forces must “Strictly adhere to the instructions of the military commanders”including the prohibition of approaching any civilian house.
“Any person who violates these instructions will be brought to trial without delay“The ministry added.
Al Sharaa, who led HTS in front of HTS in the offensive against the Asad, already asked their forces yesterday to refrain from revenge acts during the fighting on the Syrian coast, amid the fears for the burst of a new sectarian conflict and its repercussions beyond the borders of the country.
In fact, the Chií Lebanese group Hizbulá -One of Al Asad’s allies with Iran until his overthrow- he totally disconnected from the events in Syria.
Meanwhile, countries such as Egypt and Turkey have insisted on the need to initiate a political process in Syria that includes all religious communities and ethnic groups, at a time of maximum tension exacerbated by the wounds still open in the civil war that ravaged the Arab country in the last 13 years.
