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BEIRUT (AP) — The death toll from the two-day clash between security forces and ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad and subsequent revenge killings has risen to more than 600, a war watchdog group said on Saturday.
The clash that broke out on Thursday marked a major escalation in Damascus’ challenge to the new government three months after the rebels stripped them of authority after removing Assad from power.
The government said it was responding to attacks from the remains of Assad’s army, and condemned “individual actions” of rampaging violence.
The revenge killing, which began on Friday by Sunni Muslim gunmen who are loyal to the government against members of Assad’s minority Alawite denomination, is a major blow to Hayat Taharil Al-Sham, the faction who led the government to overthrow. For decades, Alawis was a large part of Assad’s support base.
Residents of Alawite villages and towns have spoken to the Associated Press about the killings in which gunmen, the majority of them, shot Alawites on the streets and on the gates of their homes. Many Alawis homes were looted and then burned in various areas, two residents of Syrian coastal areas told the Associated Press from their hideout.
They asked not to be made public for fear of their names being killed by gunmen, adding that thousands of people had fled to nearby mountains for safety.
Residents of Baniya, one of the worst towns in violence, said the bodies were either scattered on the streets or buried on the roofs of houses or buildings. One resident said the gunman prevented residents from killing five neighbors’ bodies at close range for hours.
Ali Sheha, a 57-year-old Baniya resident, is a Baniya resident who fled with family and neighbors hours after the violence on Friday, said at least 20 neighbors and colleagues were killed in one Baniya neighborhood where Alawyans lived, some of whom were killed in shops and homes.
Sheha called the attacks by the Alawite minority “revenge killings” due to the crime committed by the Assad government. Other residents said the gunmen included foreign fighters and militants from nearby villages and towns.
“It was so bad. He had run away and the body was on the street,” Sheha said. He said gunmen were gathering from buildings less than 100 meters from his apartment, randomly firing at homes and residents, and in an incident known in at least one incident, they asked for their ID to check their religion and denomination before killing their ID. He said that gunmen also burned several homes, stole cars and took the house.
The British-based Syrian Human Rights Observatory, a war monitor, said 428 Alawians were killed in the revenge attack, along with 120 pro-Assad fighters and 89 from security forces. Observatory Chihhrami Abdulrahman said the revenge killing stopped early on Saturday.
“This was one of the biggest massacres during the Syrian conflict,” Abdul Rahman said of the murder of Alawite civilians.
No official numbers have been announced.
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