Illustrative image. (Syrian Arab News Agency)
Ten people, including a child, were killed and at least 50 others were wounded on July 13 when clashes broke out between Druze fighters and Sunni tribesmen in the southwestern Syrian governorate of al-Suwayda, in the latest episode of sectarian violence in the war-torn country.
The clashes came following days of tensions that began after a Druze man was reportedly robbed and assaulted by Sunni tribesmen while traveling to Damascus. Druze fighters responded by capturing a number of tribesmen, who retaliated in the same fashion causing the closure of the highway leading to the capital.
The al-Maqwas area in the eastern outskirts of al-Suwayda is reportedly witnessing a fierce battle, with Sunni tribesmen attempting to storm the Druze-majority city.
Local news outlets, including Al-Suwayda 24, warned that the death toll could rise as the battle is intensifying, with both sides bringing in reinforcements.
Along with the battle in al-Suwayda city, sporadic clashes were reported in many parts of the governorate’s countryside. Sunni tribesmen even made an attempt to storm the Druze towns of Al-Surah al-Kubra in the northern countryside and al-Tireh in the western countryside.
Notably, Syria’s Islamist-led Interim Government which led two attacks against Druze fighters near Damascus and in al-Suwayda between April and May, has not intervened this time.
The only official comment came from the commander of the Internal Security Forces in Daraa governorate Shahid Jabr Omran who announced in a statement published by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency that his forces were deployed along the administrative border with al-Suwayda to stop clashes from spreading to new areas.
Efforts are reportedly being made to broker a ceasefire in al-Suwayda. However, it is unclear how much the government is involved.
After the fall of the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad last December, Druze fighters, who are organized in several armed factions, refused to lay down their arms citing distrust with the country’s new Islamist rulers. They maintained a semi-autonomous administration in al-Suwayda as well as over the towns of Jaramana and Sahnaya near Damascus.
Israel vowed to protect the Druze, citing its historic ties with its own Druze community. Still, Druze fighters were expelled from Sahnaya during the previous wave of violence in May.
The ongoing sectarian clashes in al-Suwayda came amid reports of progress in peace talks between Israel and Syria. The clashes could open the way for government forces into the Druze-majority governorate. Israel will not likely intervene, at least not in a meaningful way.
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what have they done to you syria. oh what a pity syria. from been the fort of resistance against israhellis to this now. oh syria what a pity
ask not what they’ve done to others, look at your own victimisation.
on the afternoon of 7 march, gunmen from factions affiliated with the al-qaeda rooted syrian government stormed the alawite village of sharifa in latakia governorate. joined by armed sunni civilians from neighboring villages, they massacred 30 people and systematically looted and torched homes and shops over the course of three days.
the victims include three women and 27 men. twelve were over the age of 50, the oldest a 96-year-old farmer.
listen you’re totally naive. too naive to even reason with. you need a proper education. you won’t get it on google. war isn’t nice. but you need to know the truth from history, not daily news, to understand reality. daily journalism was dedicated to its ability to deceive, that’s the whole point if it’s creation.
‘alawites, you are pigs’: how damascus-linked forces massacred dozens in the coastal village of sharifa
eyewitnesses from the village detail one of the dozens of coordinated massacres carried out by president ahmad al-sharaa’s forces against alawites in early march 2025.
the cradle’s syria correspondent
jul 13, 2025
note: this article contains disturbing graphic images and detailed descriptions of violence and civilian harm. reader discretion is advised.
and who exactly is that correspondent and what exactly is the cradle. do your research identify your sources. first. then analyse and i mean the real sources, not the ones that they appear to be.
i am waiting for mia’s comments
as if. what a load of it so transparent.
according to the syrian observatory for human rights (sohr), at least 1600 alawite civilians were murdered in at least 55 separate massacres over a three-day period starting on 7 march. the massacres were accompanied by the systematic looting and burning of alawite homes
so? you don’t know if that’s true you don’t know who did what you don’t personally know anyone involved you’re just believing g stuff on the internet
residents of sharifa speaking to the cradle provided testimony of the events that took place, as well as photographs of the bodies of 24 of the victims.
a pattern of massacres
the massacre in sharifa was one of many carried out by syrian government-affiliated armed factions in alawite villages and cities on syria’s coast that day.
again you’re parroting something you have no knowledge of or u derstanding of motives or anything. you don’t know.
so fake so full of it you are busy working hard at your bs.
everyone understands this is under the order and protection of israel… right?
do we still have to pretend the kalergi plan is a ‘far right conspiracy?’
‘greater israel’ is antisemitic to say?
‘nakbah’ never happened. no one else ever lived there. uss liberty was an accident. king david hotel. iran-iraq war. bolshevism!
fuck these people.
fu you’re the ignorant remnant of failed propagandas repeating u ourself like a retard who doesn’t even know the basics that history repeats
yourself*
get bent, heeb.
in one prominent case, video and photographic evidence place hasan abu qasra, the head of the syrian government-controlled petroleum company and a close relative of defense minister murhaf abu qasra, among the forces coordinating the massacres on the ground.
according to a 30 june investigation by reuters, “the chain of command led to damascus.”
you a d your fake names you never stop do you are you on overtime for the foundation?
the syrian government, led by former al-qaeda and isis commander ahmad al-sharaa (abu mohammad al-julani), promised to investigate the massacres. but four months on, no serious inquiry has materialized, and no arrests have been made, despite clear evidence implicating leaders from factions incorporated into the syrian ministry of defense and general security.
many videos of the killing of alawites were taken and posted to social media by the perpetrators themselves. dozens of videos went viral showing gunmen forcing unarmed alawite men to crawl on the ground, barking like dogs, and executing them in the streets.
the sunnis turn out to just be zionist whores like the protestants…it seems only the zaydis yemenis and persian shia have balls against jews…i am starting to think all sunni muslims are actually just crypto jews…pathetic. i hope the chinese atheists, orthodox russians, catholics, shias and african tribal religions can destroy the jews and their protestant/sunnis slaves
instead of seeking to hold the killers accountable, syrian minister of foreign affairs asaad al-shaibani blamed alawites themselves. when speaking at the un three weeks later, he claimed “regime remnants” had carried out the massacres. after hayat tahrir al-sham (hts) forces led by sharaa toppled the government of bashar al-assad in december 2024, many warned that such massacres of alawite civilians would take place.
what a bunch of ignorant apes, they are fighting anyone but the israelis.
blah blah blah.
in august 2013, militants from the nusra front, isis, and the free syrian army (fsa) raided ten alawite villages in latakia, slaughtering 190 civilians, including 57 women, 18 children, and 14 elderly men, while taking another 200 hostage, human rights watch reported.
during an interview with al-jazeera in 2015, sharaa (then known as julani) vowed to kill any alawites who refused to convert to sunni islam.
while under sharaa’s command, hts (previously known as the al-qaeda affiliated nusra front) committed similar massacres throughout the 14-year war to topple the syrian government. the massacres were driven in part by the nusra front’s genocidal ideology, inspired by the sectarian writings of the medieval islamic scholar ibn taymiyyah.
hts grants syrian citizenship to chinese uyghurs and trains them to carry out a terrorist attack in china sooner or later. perhaps there will be a terrorist attack large enough that china will be forced to erase hts. the chinese aren’t stupid like the stupid alawites or the stupid russians. if the uyghurs did something truly bad, china would attack and wipe out this evil, failed terrorist state.
making good on this promise became possible once sharaa took power in damascus in december 2024. in the following months, syria’s alawites were systematically disarmed, as former alawite members of the army and security services were required to hand in their weapons as part of a mandatory “reconciliation” process.
i hope syrian uyghurs carry out a terrorist attack on china. big enough that china will be forced to take action and break up this terrorist nest.
in january and february, armed factions affiliated with sharaa’s hts-led government carried out a series of massacres of alawites across the latakia, homs, and hama countrysides, including in the villages of arzeh and fahel.
in february, a member of an armed faction belonging to the ministry of defense, the suleiman shah brigade, or “amshat,” told the cradle, “we would kill every alawite in syria now, but the media coverage would be too bad.”
the mass killing of alawites, now known as the “coastal massacres,” including in sharifa, unfolded just weeks later, on 7 march, under the pretext of suppressing an insurgency led by the “regime remnants.”
the sharifa massacre
sharifa is a small alawite village located in the latakia countryside between the sunni town of al-haffa, home to the impressive saladin castle, and the m4 highway, which connects latakia to idlib, aleppo, and northeast syria.
residents recounted the chain of events to the cradle. on the evening of 6 march, gunfire rang out near the village entrance. two bodies were discovered: raafat hawat, a young alawite from sharifa, and hussein hamsho, a young sunni from nearby babanna. though circumstances remain unclear, the sunni man’s death became the pretext for the coming attack.
the same night, members of armed factions affiliated with the syrian government began to gather at the entrance to sharifa.
day one: 7 march
on the morning of the next day, residents of sharifa began to hear heavy gunfire and calls from the mosques in the neighboring sunni villages to mobilize men for jihad.
most young men in the village fled to hide in the surrounding forests, thinking that government forces were coming to raid the village and carry out arrests. the women and elderly men remained, believing they would not be targeted.
at around 2 pm, following friday prayers, gunmen from the armed factions and armed civilians from neighboring sunni villages entered sharifa. they immediately entered several homes near the entrance of the village and began carrying out executions.
in the first house the gunmen entered, they killed three women: samar basima, 48, her sister, samaher basima, 51, and their friend rana baqawi. all three were found executed with bullets to the head, and the house burned
samar basima, employee at lattakia university, 48-years-old, born 16/12/1976
samaher basima, housewife and worker in the village bakery that burned down, 51-years-old, born 20/03/1973
rana baqawi, 48-years-old, sister of mayor ziad baqawi. he buried her and was himself killed the next day.
the gunmen also executed the oldest man in the village, 96-year-old farmer adam saeed, after entering
as the gunmen entered homes, they beat and insulted residents, shouting sectarian slurs:
“alawites, you are pigs.”
“you are not muslims. you don’t know the quran.”
“we are sunni, we can do what we want.”
in one case, gunmen held the arms of an elderly man and repeatedly dunked his head under the water of a fountain in his home until he believed he would suffocate to death.
radwan darwish, a 47-year-old grocery store owner, was hiding in his house when the factions came. at first, they didn’t find him, but he later stuck his head out of the door. gunmen saw him, took him out front of his house, and executed him.
they also executed his father, mohammad darwish, a 67-year-old farmer and owner of a mini market, who was with him. radwan darwish, grocery store owner, 47-years-old, 12/12/1978
mohammad darwish, farmer, mini market owner, 67-years-old, born 1958
mazen baqawi, 47-years old, was also executed. mazen was a well-known fruit seller who worked across the latakia region. when gunmen entered his home, one of them removed his mask, revealing that he was one of mazen’s employees. mazen, shocked, asked him, “you really want to kill me?”
the gunman answered, “yes, and i took off my mask to make sure you never forget my face,” before shooting and killing him.mazen baqawi, citrus and fruit merchant, 47-years-old, born 25/09/1978
haidar saloum, who was 30-years-old and worked selling fruit with mazen, was also executed. two gunmen beat his head with the butts of their kalashnikov rifles before shooting him in the face. haidar saloum, citrus and fruit merchant, 30 years old, born 07/10/1994
maher aboud, a 46-year-old civil servant in the transportation directorate, and his brother, yasser, a 50-year-old street coffee seller, were executed togethe
r. they first hid in the forest when the factions came, but later decided to return to their homes, thinking nothing would happen. maher abboud, civil servant in the transportation directorate, 46-years-old, born 10/08/1978
yasser aboud, street coffee seller, 50-years-old, born 01/01/1975
.
hashem marouf, 57-years-old, worked as a government employee in the electricity department in al-haffa for 30 years. when the factions entered the village, hashem did not believe he was in danger and remained at home when the gunmen entered, he greeted them saying, “welcome. welcome.” they executed him in his living room, shooting him with three bullets. hashem marouf retired civil servant in the electricity department, 57-years-old, born 10/08/1968
some of the men were not immediately executed. instead, they were taken away by gunmen who told the men’s wives that they would be returned after an inve stigation.
in addition to the killings and abductions, the gunmen looted shops and homes, stealing all the gold, money, and jewelry they could find.
as one woman watched the gunmen loot her home, she was told, “keep silent or i w ill fu ck you.”
many homes were burned from the inside after they were looted.
some of the villagers told the gunmen, among them sunnis from nearby villages, “we are neighbors and brothers. why are you doing this?”
the gunmen responded, saying, “we are not neighbors.”
one gunman told residents, “we are the sunnis from al-haffa (the nearby town) and we will make hundreds of widows in sharifa.”
residents of sharifa believe their neighbors were motivated by sectarian ideas, for example from the medieval islamic scholar ibn taymiyya, which have spread in syria since the war began in 2011.
residents of sharifa say that even during the 14 years of war, they did not have problems with their sunni neighbors. they say that when the syrian army entered babanna amid clashes with opposition militants from the fsa in 2012, the people in
sharifa received some of those who fled and allowed them to sleep in their homes. they used their own cars to help them reach latakia safely.as the looting on 7 march continued, gunmen also stole cars, motorbikes, tractors, tillers, and large containers of olive oil. if they couldn’t steal the olive oil, they emptied the containers on the ground. if they were unable to steal a car, they dismantled it for parts and burned it.
this ensured that the already impoverished residents of sharifa would have their livelihoods, primarily as farmers, destroyed.
the gunmen also burned the village bakery, and attacked it’s communication towers, stole their cables, and destroyed the solar panels powering them. this eventually cut communication between the village and anyone outside.
at sunset, the attackers withdrew. survivors emerged from the forests to a scene of devastation.
as one man returned, he saw four corpses in the street leading to his home. the smell of smoke was strong from the burning houses, he told the cradle.
another man informed the cradle that after returning, he frantically sought to contact friends in the neighboring sunni villages to determine the fate of his elderly father who had been abducted.
day two: 8 march
the next day, the killings largely stopped while the factions instead focused on looting.
however, one man, salah marouf, was abducted by a gunman after he returned to his home from the forests. he was taken to the village square and shot. members of the government’s law enforcement arm, the general security, finally entered the village that afternoon.
they announced their entry on loudspeakers, telling everyone not to be afraid, and that they had come to protect them. this allowed residents to leave their homes and discover the fate of many of the men who
you’re boring and trabsparent.