Investigating four days of violence on the Syrian coast

In March 2025, a wave of extreme violence and revenge killings swept through Alawite strongholds of Syria. Unarmed civilians, including women and children, were among the victims.

WARNING: This article includes disturbing descriptions of violence, and the below video contains deceased bodies and other traumatic imagery  from the outset.

CIR has avoided linking to graphic footage or harmful content. The videos referenced in this article feature in the below documentary, and footage is available upon request.

The videos show bodies by the roadside. In some cases, they have been covered with blankets, which family members pull back as they anxiously search for loved ones.  

These were scenes that emerged out of Syria between 6 and 10 March 2025, when violence engulfed villages on the coast – a stronghold of the minority Alawite sect. 

“These are my children,” a woman says in a video shared to X on 11 March and verified by CIR. The video was filmed on a street leading to the M1 highway in Saloren, Latakia governorate. At least three bodies are visible on the road. The soldiers the woman is confronting are reported to have killed her son and grandson. 

“I swear, we will step on every single Alawite,” one of the men says.

A new CIR documentary, in collaboration with Syrian Archive, investigates the videos that flooded social media during those four days in March. They show people being abused, gunned down, and executed at close range. In some cases, men were made to crawl on all fours and bark like dogs.

The violence was reportedly sparked by an offensive launched by groups loyal to former president Bashar al-Assad. The Alawite community as a whole – the minority sect to which the Assad dynasty belongs – was blamed for the attempted uprising. In the following days, hundreds of mostly Alawite fighters and civilians were killed in the coastal region. 

A preliminary report by Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) found that 803 people had been extrajudicially killed during the violence between 6 and 10 March, but the death toll continues to climb as researchers work to verify information. 

The UN said that in some cases, entire families were killed. 

Syrian Archive mapped 28 locations where reported mass killings took place. These reports counted several hundred unarmed civilian victims, including women and children. 

We also logged at least 15 videos showing the execution of 24 unarmed men in civilian clothing, mostly by men in uniforms that can be linked to government-affiliated forces. 

Not all of these could be independently verified or located, but CIR and Syrian Archive judged them to be highly credible, based on the circumstances of publication, background features, accents, and the abusive language used, including repetitive Alawite slurs. 

In multiple videos, perpetrators actively talk to the camera, in some cases smiling or laughing. Several of the men caught on camera were later arrested by government forces or the military police, according to reports by Syrian media outlet Levant 24.

“A lot of perpetrators, they film themselves,” said Fadel Abdulghany, executive director at SNHR, an independent organisation that has been monitoring human rights violations in Syria for over a decade. Such videos become “high-value evidence”, he added. 

How the violence unfolded

Violence reportedly broke out on 6 March and was concentrated in Syria’s Latakia and Tartus governorates. Non-state armed groups linked to the former regime carried out what appeared to be coordinated attacks against government-linked security and military sites. Four hospitals, one mosque and one White Helmets ambulance were also damaged, according to SNHR’s report.

The full details of what took place that day, and in the days that followed, are still being analysed by researchers and investigators, but footage uploaded to social media brings large parts of the violence into focus.  

Videos shared online on 6 March – reportedly featuring Mukdad Fathiyeh, the leader of a militia supporting the ousted Assad – called for a violent uprising against the new Syrian government. 

Another video, shared the same day, claims to show the bodies of government forces in the back of a pickup truck. “The zero hour has struck here in Jableh”, a man dressed in civilian clothes, holding a gun, says to the camera. He calls for “anyone with a weapon” to join the fight. 

Decades of anger at those associated with the Assad regime spilt into the streets, drowning out the voices of those who had gathered to mourn the deaths. Protests recorded in several major hubs across the country showed crowds chanting Alawite slurs.

The transitional government launched security operations in response to the attacks. But in the days that followed, these operations were supported by other military factions affiliated with the government, but not organisationally integrated – a factor that has made attributing the violence particularly hard.  

Footage published on 7 March shows men in uniforms – some with their faces covered and some holding guns – taking turns to speak to the camera. They use Alawite slurs and chant “sunnis”. 

“Just a few hours and we will be there”, one man says to the camera – “[…] we will defeat the Assad remnants, God willing.”

Additional images and videos shared on social media on 7 March appear to show heavy weaponry, including tanks, breaking through roadblocks in Latakia city. CIR documented heavy fighting at points along the M1 highway, which connects the cities of Latakia and Tartus. Another video, posted on the same day, appears to depict a convoy of armoured vehicles moving along the highway towards Jableh amidst heavy gunfire. 

In this video, also published on 7 March, armed groups reportedly affiliated with HTS-led forces appeared to launch improvised explosives from a helicopter over the same highway – a tactic reminiscent of the Assad regime. The video of the woman next to the bodies of her family members was also filmed nearby.

Bodies by the roadside

Assad’s 24-year rule collapsed in December 2024 in what was considered a seismic moment for Syria. The country had endured nearly 14 years of civil war, during which extensive human rights abuses were documented, including the use of chemical weapons and barrel bombs against civilians. 

The new government, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, pledged to end sectarian violence in the country – a promise that was broken when footage of violence began to emerge on 6 March. 

Most of the footage is too graphic to link to or to describe in detail. Countless videos were shared online, showing unarmed men in civilian clothing being verbally and physically abused by fighters in uniforms linked to government-affiliated forces. 

In videos identified by CIR and Syrian Archive, the men – many of them wounded – are made to crawl and bark. They are often abused with Alawite slurs. 

As fighters filmed themselves, we found 15 videos where the abuse was followed by the executions of unarmed prisoners. The men’s last moments are played out on camera before they are shot at close range.

Multiple videos and photographs show mass killings. A video taken in the village of Mukhtariyya on 7 March – said to be a predominantly Alawite village – shows at least 30 bodies. 

The majority of the victims are male and appear to be unarmed and in civilian clothing. The post alleges that the killings were carried out by government-affiliated forces, however, CIR was unable to independently verify this claim.

Accountability challenges

The precise circumstances of the deaths documented remain unclear.  With many different government-affiliated armed groups operating outside of government control, it is hard to assign responsibility for these mass killings.

A patchwork of armed groups fought against the Assad regime for over a decade during the Syrian civil war. According to Abdulghany and other Syrian experts, various armed groups aligned with the government have not yet been fully integrated – which has further complicated accountability efforts. 

“They’re still following their leaders more than the head of the security forces,” Abdulghany explains. “So they are using the security forces equipment and cars, but that doesn’t mean they are integrated.”

‘Cycle of violence’

Al-Sharaa stated that “no one is above the law” in a speech on 9 March, when he announced the forming of an independent committee to investigate the killings on both sides. He said that “remnants of the former regime” should surrender immediately, and vowed to hold accountable “anyone involved in civilian bloodshed”.

On 10 March, the Syrian Ministry of Defence announced an end to the government’s security operation, stating that security threats had been neutralised in Latakia and Tartus governorates. As violence died down, reports of multiple arrests of individuals who had filmed themselves began to emerge. 

But the four days of violence have left lasting marks on Alawite communities. The BBC reported that at least 6,000 people had crossed into neighbouring Lebanon to escape the violence in coastal areas, and many Alawites say they are too afraid to return to their villages.  

“I hope that Syrians learn from what’s happened, that this cycle of violence will not serve anyone, but it will escalate it and it will be endless if we enter this cycle of violence,” Abdulghany said. “A state should act not as an armed group, [it] should act as a state and as a neutral government for everyone. That’s the only hope I have.”