Who are the Alawites, why are they being killed in Syria?

A religious minority in Syria, the Alawite sect makes up 12% of the country's population, whose majority belongs to the Sunni Muslim sect. The Alawite is an offshoot of Shia Islam. They mainly inhabited the costal regions of Latakia and Tartus.

Clashes between fighters affiliated with Syria’s new government, headed by al-Sharaa, and those loyal to ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad, erupted on Thursday, killing hundreds in what is being termed as one of the deadliest outbursts of violence since the Syrian civil war began 14 years ago.

The violence has largely unfolded in the coastal cities of Latakia, Jableh, and Banias, with members of the minority Alawite sect being the primary target. Under Assad's regime—the Alawite sect, to which Assad belongs—enjoyed many benefits. Now they are targets of "revenge attacks."

Quoting UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), an NDTV report stated that more than 1,000 people had been killed in the attack, including 745 civilians, 125 members of Syrian security forces and 148 Assad loyalists. Civilians were shot at close range.

While the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) saying 148 civilians were killed by Assad loyalists and 327 civilians and captured militants were killed by Syrian security forces as per a report in The Guardian.

A religious minority in Syria, the Alawite sect makes up 12 per cent of the population, which is majority Sunni Muslim. It is an offshoot of Shia Islam. They mainly inhabited the costal regions of Latakia and Tartus.

Alwaites enjoyed great benefits such as occupying high military and government posts, under the Assad family rule over Syria which began in 1971.

According to a report by the BBC, Sunnis, who are the majority in the country, faced atrocities under Assad's regime, which gave rise to sectarian hatred particularly towards the Alawites.

As per the report, Alawite security officers were involved in the killing and torture of thousands of Syrians, the majority of which were Sunni Muslims, during the Assad regime.

Assad was ousted in December 2024 by the hardline Sunni faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group formerly allied with al-Qaeda and is currently in power.

Distressful scenes of revenge killings have emerged from the coastal towns. As per the report, a man from a town in Latakia has detailed how at least 14 of his neighbours were killed. A 75-year old father and his three sons were killed in front of their mother.

The man said, “After they killed the father and his boys, they asked the mother to take her gold off, or they would kill her.”

57-year old, Ali Sheha from Banias, described how at least 20 Alawites were massacred in their shops and homes. Sheha, according to NDTV, said the gunmen were checking IDs to confirm their sect and then shooting them. "It was very very bad. Bodies were on the streets,"Sheha said.

The United States urged Syrian authorities on Sunday to hold accountable the "radical Islamist terrorists" that have killed people in Syria and said it stood with the country's religious and ethnic minorities.