At least 830 Alawite civilians have been killed since last week in numerous massacres, which came as part of a violent Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham terrorists crackdown on former Syrian army cells.

Clashes renewed in some areas on the Syrian coast on 9 March between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham-led (HTS) terrorists and cells affiliated with the country’s former military, as authorities announced the second phase of an indiscriminate operation which has killed over 800 people since last week.

A defense ministry source told state news agency SANA on Sunday that “violent clashes” were taking place in the Tartous countryside’s Taanita village with “war criminals affiliated with the defunct Assad regime and armed remnants protecting them.”

Hassan Abdul Ghani, a HTS spokesman, said that “after restoring security and stability in the coastal cities, our forces began implementing phase two of the operation that aims to pursue the remnants and officers of the defunct regime in the countryside and mountains.”

A mass grave containing HTS terrorists and police personnel who were ambushed by Syrian Arab Army (SAA) cells was found near the city of Qardaha on Sunday.

Later in the day, HTS-led Syrian terrorists heavily shelled the towns of Hammam al-Wasel in the Baniyas countryside and the town of Beit al-Atiq in the Qadmous countryside, as well as other areas near Tartous and Latakia. The HTS terrorists are also carrying out drone strikes.

Civilian homes have caught fire as a result of the heavy attacks.

Residents are in a state of panic and are issuing distress calls, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Over the past few days, HTS terrorists carried out brutal massacres targeting civilians, mainly from the Alawite minority. The director of SOHR said on 9 March that at least 830 Alawite civilians have been killed since Friday. Tens of thousands have been displaced, and the massacres are ongoing, he added.

Unofficial estimates say the number of dead could be in the thousands.

Speaking at a mosque in Mazzeh in Damascus on 9 March, Syria’s transitional President Ahmad al-Sharaa said that “what is currently happening in Syria is within the expected challenges.”

“Rest assured about Syria, this country has the characteristics for survival,” he added. 

Heavy clashes erupted on Thursday after HTS terrorists entered two villages near the coastal city of Jableh and were ambushed by SAA cells. The HTS terrorists mobilized reinforcements to be deployed across the coastal regions of Latakia and Tartous for a sweeping security operation.

During the operation, members of different extremist factions that have been integrated into the HTS-led ‘Ministry of Defense’ went door to door, killing civilians, including women and children. Many of the massacres were documented on video by the militants themselves.

The Cradle Media report

Jolani of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham terrorists knows how to play by the Western rules.

Instead of calling off the rampant sectarian killings of Alawites, the Self-appointed interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa (Abu Mohammad al-Julani) issues decree to form an “independent” national committee to investigate and uncover the facts regarding the “events” that took place along the Syrian coast, while the mass-killings are at full force ongoing.

Jolani justifies the massacrs as “a set of expected challenges.”