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Syria witnessed another episode of sectarian violence on November 24 after the killing of a Bedouin couple triggered retaliatory attacks against the Alawite community in the central governorate of Homs.
The man and his wife, both from the Bani Khalid Bedouin tribe, were found killed in their home in the town of Zaidal in the eastern Homs countryside early in the day, with the woman’s body partially burned and sectarian-charged graffiti found at the scene.
Quickly after the news spread out, armed Bedouins carried out retaliatory attacks against Alawites in Homs city, storming al-Muhajirin and other neighborhoods where members of the community reside. Authorities announced an investigation into the crime in Zaidal and deployed troops in the city in an attempt to control the situation.
Still, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based monitoring group, reported gunfire, arson, and isolated kidnapping incidents in Alawite-majority neighborhoods.
The Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and Abroad said in a statement that two Alawite civilians were killed and ten others were wounded in the retaliatory attacks. It held the country’s Islamist-led Interim Government responsibility for the attacks, and said that government troops backed armed Bedouins.
In addition, the council called on the United Nations and its Security Council to intervene and launch an investigation into the violence.
“The Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and Abroad holds the de facto authority fully responsible for the safety and security of civilians from the Alawite sect in these areas, and affirms its clear complicity through its silence and inability to implement the conditions imposed on it by the UN to protect minorities,” the council said.
In response to the situation, the interior authorities decided to impose a temporary curfew across the city for 24 hours, starting from 5:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time (1400 GMT), to prevent further escalation and facilitate security operations, according to an official source cited by Syrian state media.
Homs Health Directorate didn’t report any deaths, but said that 18 people were injured during chaos in the city, including one in a critical condition.
Later in the day, Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said in a statement to state media that there is still no physical evidence to prove the crime in Zaidal was sectarian in nature.
He indicated that initial investigations showed the graffiti found at the scene was written with the intent to mislead, incite sectarian strife, and divert attention from the real perpetrator.
Syrian state media reported on November 24 that the situation in Homs city calmed down after the deployment of government troops. However, others sources said that tensions were still high and armed Bedouins were still near Alawite neighborhoods, in some cases along government troops.
The Alawites have been facing violence since the fall of the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad, whose family belongs to the community, nearly a year ago. In March, a government crackdown on an Alawite armed uprising on the coast, the heartland of the community, ended with a series of massacres that claimed the lives of more than 1,400 Alawite civilians.
Killings and forced disappearances have continued since March, albeit at a lower pace, against members of the communists on the coast, as well as in Homs and other areas in central and western Syria.
Although the government has vowed to hold people responsible for these crimes responsible and recently held a public trial for some alleged perpetrators, it continues to face criticism due to the lack of any international oversight and the simple fact that the crimes are increasing.
In addition to violence, Alawites have been largely excluded from the government structure, with no representation for the community whatsoever in the military and security forces.
Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara has so far rejected demands for decentralization from Alawites, Kurds and Druze, arguing that everyone should be integrated into the government. At the same time, he is yet to give any position of real value to anyone from a minority group.
While Sharaa has managed to subdue the Alawites by force, at least for now, he does not seem to be capable of doing the same with Kurds and Druze. The continuation of the current policies will, without a doubt, lead to a new civil war in Syria, a more brutal one with a more clear sectarian and ethnic nature.
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i never expected such dirty betrayal from suhail al hassan.
from bashar al assad, yes, and from his brother maher as well.
but suhail al hassan seemed like an honest man to me.
for his dirty escape, he deserves to be woken up by an atomic bomb in moscow.
israel should seize damascus. that then have the al qaeda gang as their capital city of aleppo. https://www.syriahr.com/en/373876/ but if these people aren’t evil and corrupt, then no one is corrupt and evil.
syrian interim authorities place isis members in cells with former army officers and non-commissioned officers in al-ra’i and afrin prisons
published november 22, 2025
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if al qaeda labels the dirty traitors isis and publicly hangs them in the middle of damascus, i will applaud.
if a democrat comes to the white house in january 2029 and bombs moscow and the traitors there, i will applaud.
this cowardly filthy, inhuman sect made up of cowardly rats and cockroaches must be exterminated. al qaeda should label everyone they have in their prisons as isis and shoot them in front of the wall.
these people don’t deserve to live.
the rest, however, should be bombed with atomic bombs by the democrat who comes to the white house after trump. i want moscow and the entire alawite sect dead. all of them. none of these people should be alive anymore. nobody.cowards, in their filthy cowardice, gave their weapons to the enemy.other cowards, in their filthy cowardice, fled to russia.if they had even a little self-respect, they would have killed themselves with their own weapons.
prosto zrakom ptica leti,
prosto gore zvijer prolazi,
a ja da se lancim speti
dam tuđincu da me gazi?
tko ne voli umrijet prije,
u tom naša krv ne vrije!
znam da moji pradjedovi
cijelim svijetom gospođahu;
a ja jezik da njihovi
u robskome tajim strahu?
tko ne voli umrijet prije,
u tom naša krv ne vriije!
sam ću ubit mog jedinca,
nož u srce rinut žene;
neg da vidim od tuđinca
slobode mi porušene.
tko to izvest gotov nije,
u tom naša krv ne vrije!
sâm ću palit krov nad glavom,
pripravit si grob gorući;
neg’ da tuđin mojim pravom
u mojoj se bani kući.
tko to izvest gotov nije,
u tom naša krv ne vrije!
i want al qaeda to kill all the human waste because in their cowardice they betrayed their homeland. and i want a democrat to come to the white house and catch the rest of them in moscow with atomic bombs. that nothing will remain of these people. absolutely nothing.
the syrian observatory for human rights has learned that authorities affiliated with the syrian interim government have placed members of the islamic state group in the same cells where former officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers of the disbanded regime army who surrendered and laid down their weapons are being held in al-ra’i and afrin prisons.
according to information obtained by the syrian observatory, the authorities are forcing the former officers and soldiers to grow beards and are preventing them from shaving, in measures that have raised widespread questions about their objectives and motives.
the syrian observatory for human rights questions whether these measures aim to eliminate former military personnel by portraying them as members of the organization, in an attempt to convince the international community that the threat of isis has ended, especially after syria joined the international coalition against terrorism. according to sources, it is also possible that the presence of isis members in the prisons is a pressure tactic used by the authorities against officers and soldiers
from the former regime whose hands are not stained with blood. families of several detainees expressed their deep concern through the syrian observatory for human rights, appealing to international organizations for urgent intervention. some families who visited their sons in al-ra’i and afrin prisons confirmed that their health conditions are extremely poor, noting severe emaciation and paleness.
they also reported that families are being prevented from bringing them clothes and socks, and that they are being given only sleeveless undershirts. this is despite the fact that the prisons are located in cold climates, and the detainees are forced to wear tattered clothing or share decent garments to enter the visiting area. this situation has left families in a precarious position, fearing for their sons’ well-being given the local and international silence, the lack of fair trials and i
nvestigations that comply with the law, and the fact that certain detainees have been denied their right to visits and prevented from sending audio recordings to reassure their families – a tactic used to pressure them within the prisons.
the syrian observatory presents this information to the international community and the united nations, demanding that independent un committees be sent to verify the facts and calling for a transparent, fair and legal investigation.
please, good god, if you exist, strike the alawites so that all their women become infertile.
so that even if al qaeda rapes every woman a hundred thousand times, none of them will be able to give birth to a child.