Update(1905ET): After several days of radical Sunni Islamist militants targeting religious minorities in Syria for mass killings, mainly in coastal areas, the mainstream media has belatedly begun to cover it (as the killings are growing to the point of getting too hard to ignore). Some correspondents estimated that there are thousands dead and wounded, mostly Alawites but also Syrian Christians among them, as post-Assad Syria unravels under Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s (HTS) Jolani.
“The death toll from two days of clashes between Syrian security forces and loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad and revenge killings that followed has risen to more than 1,000, a war monitoring group said Saturday, making it one of the deadliest acts of violence since Syria’s conflict began 14 years ago,” The Associated Press reports.
The jihadists, which include foreign fighters as well as ruling HTS members, in some cases are simply going into the homes of non-Sunnis and massacring whole families. The terrorists haven’t been shy about uploading their killings on the internet as well as in livestreams. Men, women, children, and even babies are being brutally murdered.
More on the jihadist terrorist regime’s massacres of Alawite families
“The attack was swift and merciless. The militants stormed the apartment, slaughtering the family without hesitation”
👇 https://t.co/yT9NDDBotD— OstensibleOyster (@Ostensiblay) March 8, 2025
“The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in addition to 745 civilians killed, mostly in shootings from close distance, 125 government security force members and 148 militants with armed groups affiliated with Assad were killed. It added that electricity and drinking water were cut off in large areas around the city of Latakia,” AP continues.
But instead of calling out the obvious ethno-religious genocide unfolding, the European Union had the audacity to issue this statement:
The European Union strongly condemns the recent attacks, reportedly by pro-Assad elements, on interim government forces in the coastal areas of Syria and all violence against civilians.
This is incredibly shameful. https://t.co/n6maaBgtIA
— Sam Noble (@TricycleRepair) March 9, 2025
But the truth has been summarized by a priest of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which is the predominant Christian faith of Syria and the Middle East. “As you see the unfolding tragedy in Syria, keep in mind, this is your tax dollars at work. This was brought to you by the US government, the State of Israel, and Turkey. They said Assad was bad. This is what they replaced Assad with,” Priest John Whiteford said on X.
Syria has once again become a warzone as HTS insurgents open fire on Alawite homes in Homs. They’re murdering people based on their race. pic.twitter.com/J6YUsrXma3
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) March 6, 2025
Gruesome images of bodies piled up on streets in and around Latakia have been widely circulating – many of them too disturbing to republish.
Fox has underscored that Tulsi Gabbard was right once again…
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s warning of a terrorist takeover in Syria looks to be coming true amid reports that al Qaeda-linked terror forces aligned with Syria’s interim new president—a former al Qaeda terrorist—are being accused of massacring Alawites as well as members of the country’s dwindling Christian community.
…At Gabbard’s Senate confirmation hearing she said “I have no love for Assad or any dictator. I just hate al-Qaeda. I hate that our leaders cozy up to Islamist extremists, calling them “rebels”, as Jake Sullivan said to Hillary Clinton, “al Qaeda is on our side in Syria.” Syria is now controlled by al-Qaeda offshoot HTS, led by an Islamist Jihadist who danced in the streets on 9/11, and who was responsible for the killing of many American soldiers.”
🚨🇸🇾 📍 Jableh: Terrorists in the jihadist regime shoot & throw grenades at restaurant & Alawite homes
Reports indicate they murdered the restaurant owner
& his entire familypic.twitter.com/TiOdP0nvE1 https://t.co/5bDsqWwJ8i— OstensibleOyster (@Ostensiblay) March 8, 2025
So far Damascus has remained relatively quiet, but in areas where there are no media cameras, particularly countryside areas of Syria – the jihadists are going on a murderous rampage. Sadly it looks to get worse.
When the Syrian “revolution” began 14 years ago the jihadists were chanting to slaughter Alawites and other minorities and later attacked Christian/Druze towns like Maaloula and Adra killing many. They were always bloodthirsty orcs and now they rule Syria. What did you expect? pic.twitter.com/7XbiykNoDf
— Hadi (@HadiNasrallah) March 8, 2025
Entire Alawite families have been massacred, such as the below…
Meanwhile Syrian Christians fear they are next to be targeted on a large-scale. Their warnings have largely fallen on deaf ears in the West…
This book is the result of years of Syrian Christians warning what’s coming. We collected the interviews from 2015-2020. Last words to me of a priest in Damascus while we sat on Straight Street: “We are a church of martyrs & we will stay.” #Syria is home. https://t.co/JsjacQwNJO
— Brad Hoff (@BradRHoff) March 9, 2025
* * *
As Middle East Eye explained earlier, The UK has lifted sanctions on 24 Syrian entities, including the central bank, in a landmark move that could be a turning point for Syria’s devastated economy. Britain has become the first country to unfreeze all assets of the Central Bank of Syria.
The state airline and state-owned oil companies are amongst other previously sanctioned entities removed from the sanctions list on Thursday afternoon. “This approach underscores our commitment to help the people of Syria rebuild their country and economy, including through support for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition process,” a UK government spokesperson said. “We will continue to judge Syria’s interim authorities by their actions, not their words.”
The new Syrian government inherited a daunting economic crisis from Bashar al-Assad’s government, which was toppled in December.
Government corruption, devastating conflict and crippling international sanctions all contributed to wrecking Syria’s economy under Assad. According to the UN, nine out of 10 Syrians live in poverty.
On December 17, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa [al-Qaeda name: Abu Mohammad al-Jolani] urged Britain and other countries to lift all the sanctions that had been imposed on the country under Assad.
“They should lift all restrictions which were imposed on the flogger and the victim. The flogger is gone now. This issue is not up for negotiation,” he said.
‘Desperately needs a boost’
The UK’s major policy shift could bring new opportunities for Syria, if other nations follow suit. Western countries lifting sanctions could help stabilise the Syrian economy and facilitate foreign investment.
The Syrian government is led by the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which remains a proscribed terrorist organization in the UK, as well as in the US. Western countries have lifted some sanctions, but have made sanctions relief contingent on political reforms.
In February the European Union partially removed restrictions on the central bank and suspended sanctions on the energy and transport sectors. The US waived a ban on transactions with the Syrian government, facilitating humanitarian aid – but has kept sanctions in place.
As long as US sanctions remain, the material impact of Britain’s move will be limited. But the policy could be a turning point in encouraging other European nations to lift more sanctions.
It is certainly a bold decision from the Labor government, which will be seen to be designing its own Middle East policy, distinct from that of the US.
It comes just days after Turkey’s Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz met Britain’s Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer to discuss Syria’s future, including sanctions and economic development.
Chris Doyle, chair of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said: “This is a belated if very welcome step by the UK. The Syrian economy desperately needs a boost and removing or easing sanctions is one of the key measures than can assist in this process.”
He added: “Getting Syrians back to productive work, running their businesses, and getting out of a situation of being aid dependent is all part of ensuring a successful transition away from decades of Assad regime rule.”
Watch: HTS militants drop ‘barrel bombs’ on civilians long the Syrian coast amid an ongoing ethno-religions cleansing campaign targeting Alawites (and the MSM remains silent)…
I’d never imagined we’d be on the side dropping the barrel bombs,
we who labelled Assad “the barrel bomb regime”This is too much to stomach. pic.twitter.com/7dxtgSDv0G
— Rami Jarrah (@RamiJarrah) March 7, 2025
The developments come as the HTS-led government carried out helicopter strikes on Thursday on the former Assad stronghold of Latakia, after fighters loyal to an elite Assad unit killed security personnel.
Video purporting to show impact…
Barrel bombs dropped on Syrian coast cities by the Jolani regime
These tactics are what made Assad a “monster,” but Jolani has friends in Washington pic.twitter.com/RTsrUx8yS1
— COMBATE |🇵🇷 (@upholdreality) March 7, 2025
In the last few weeks, the government has launched extensive campaigns seeking to root out Assad loyalists from his former bastions. It is under further pressure in the southwest, where Israel has occupied a UN-buffer zone and now commands the high ground looking over Damascus.
Israel has also sought to portray itself as a protector of Syria’s Druze community, an ethno-religious minority, in a bid to deepen its foothold in Syria.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened military action to “defend” a suburb three kilometres southeast of Damascus that is home to many Druze.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 03/08/2025 – 19:05
