Current situation in Syria

[ArtTheClown]

Is anyone else interested in a thread discussing Syria?

I've been concerned about what I'm reading - BBC is just reporting "clashes with Assad loyalists", but I'm seeing claims on SM about attacks on minority civilians and Turkey now in northern Syria. I'm strugging to verify the information though so if anyone has any more information than that I'd be interested to see it.

I'm unfortunately not too surprised at this - the void left by unpleasant strongmen always seems to create chaos, and I thought the celebrations about Syria being "free" seemed premature. I had hoped I was wrong.

I hope other people answer. I am interested and have been for a while but am very confused about who is who etc -apart from having known about the evilness of Assad.

I have no idea how to get more information, neither mainstream or social media commentators seem to be following it with anything like the same enthusiasm as the Gaza conflict. There's some stuff from on the ground being uploaded, but it's hard to know what you're actually seeing.

I'm worried that, worst case scenario, there are going to be further massacres or genocides against the remaining minority groups in the region.

So far I can only see reports on Al Jazeera.

From Ynet:

06:00
Over 70 killed, dozens wounded in Syria clashes with Assad loyalists

More than 70 people were killed and dozens more wounded in Syria in fighting between government security forces and militants loyal to deposed ruler Bashar al-Assad, a rights monitor said Friday. "More than 70 killed and dozens wounded and captured in bloody clashes and ambushes on the Syrian coast between members of the Ministry of Defense and Interior and militants from the defunct regime's army," the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a post on X.
(AFP)

Yesterday | 19:09
Syrian forces clash with Assad-linked militants in escalating violence

Fighters loyal to Syria's ousted leader Bashar Assad mounted a deadly, well-planned attack on government forces on Thursday, authorities said, in some of the worst violence against the government since Islamist-led rebels seized power. At least 13 members of the security forces were killed in the clashes in the coastal region of Jableh, the government-aligned Syria TV reported. The regional security chief said many members of the security forces had been killed and wounded in the attack by "remnants of the Assad militias." It marked a sharp escalation of tensions in the coastal area that forms the heartland of Assad's Alawite sect and has emerged as a big security challenge for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa as he works to consolidate his control. Thursday's attack involved several groups of Assad-aligned militias who targeted security patrols and checkpoints in the Jableh area and surrounding countryside, the chief of security in Latakia province, Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kunaifati, said. The attack "resulted in the fall of many martyrs and wounded among our forces", he added in statements published by the Interior Ministry. Security forces had absorbed the attack in the countryside around Jableh, though clashes were ongoing inside the city, he added.
(Reuters)

I’ve been following it as much as I can. Not sure if it is hard to get information because I notice a lot of articles quoting these Human Rights observers (who are British based) rather than reporting from “on the ground”

their website isn’t the most reader friendly

https://www.syriahr.com/en/

The UK unfroze some assets recently which means they are still behind the new regime I guess.

With regards to attacks on turkey: it is my understanding that the Turkish backed SNA launched attacks in areas of Syria held by the Kurdish led forces. So these clashes continue but the new Syrian government forces are not involved in this specifically.

The new government don’t hold all of Syria so they are in talks with the Kurds basically.

But I easily could have missed something. Irish media usually picks up stories about the Kurdish forces.

@Odras thanks very much for that resource.

The New York Times, BBC, Le Monde etc are reporting this.

There's more and more footage of massacres showing up on my X feed now, is anyone else seeing them?

I’ve seen some of them, absolutely horrible. Looks like Alawites, Christians and other minorities are being attacked and slaughtered.

And it's the perpetrators doing the filming and uploading. They're proud!

I’ve seen allegations on X of Sunni Muslims killing other groups

Just like Hamas did on October 7th. Absolutely vile.

It's grim.

Some of what I have come across has been from Russian social media that I look at sometimes to see what is being reported there about Ukraine (my mum is from Ukraine).

I am seeing the same images sometimes reported with different explanations, but it seems clear that, whatever else is going on, Alawites & Christians have been killed indiscriminately. I see in the UK news that 'clashes' are being reported. That may well be the case. There are also humiliations and executions of clearly unarmed people due to their backgrounds. Terrible.

https://x.com/wyattreed13/status/1898152939182501906

Content warning, obviously.

Footage of a pair of grinning sociopaths driving around, heavily armed, then clear footage of them gunning down a civilian and laughing.

I’m not going to watch that because it sounds horrific. The problem with videos like that on X or otherwise is that they could be from anywhere at anytime and it is not clear who it contains. And the problem with Syria is that there is a few armed groups and randomers who are armed and angry. That’s why news agencies and human rights organisations have people verifying footage and photos.

I think this is a good article on it.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/world/europe/syria-coast-clashes-assad.html

I’m not going to watch that because it sounds horrific. The problem with videos like that on X or otherwise is that they could be from anywhere at anytime and it is not clear who it contains.

Yes, I made the point earlier that there's all this violence on my feed and very little way to verify.
That being said, there was/is widespread posting of footage from Gaza in this section over the last while, so in the absence of much else, I will post where it feels appropriate. This, for instance, was the first clear-cut evidence I've personally seen of civilians being targetted. I've seen footage of dead bodies now but all what people would refer to as fighting age men.

I appreciate you sharing the article, but it's potentially massively underplaying violence against civilians belonging to minority groups.

Absolutely go ahead and post. I have not either entertained unverified footage from Gaza either. But I just don’t like the violent details of these situations either.

I don’t know if the article is downplaying it but from the looks of the news generally it does seem that civilians are being killed.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdrxkm2evnlo

If you have an X account, there's lots of proof on there. It's barbaric and yet again, the UK and European governments are doing nothing. Not condemnation or offering to help. Just turning a blind eye to Christians being slathered.
Russia has provided a safe space at an airport apparently. A lot of Russians are orthodox Christians, so that makes sense.

All over the media now.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/09/more-than-1000-people-killed-in-two-days-of-clashes-in-syria-war-monitor-says

It's a horrific slaughter that's going on, the media should be shouting about it from the rooftops!

Amir Tsarfati has been talking about it yesterday on YT

Chuck Holton also reporting on the general situation in Syria. Basically it's ISIS running amok over there.

Both have channels not on YT that are far more graphic, I haven't looked at those.

X is pulling videos on the subject but there are still some floating around.

This is October 7th for those poor people.

It's just horrendous. I don't really know enough about the various factions in Syria and I'm surprised about there isn't more media coverage.

How could I forget Tousi TV, he covered it as well.

1000 deaths in 2 days is an extremely high number and over 700 civilians.

I don't think.the UK should be involved though, any involvement would be perceived as interference and we can never do anything right anyway. I think the middle eastern countries involvement might be better received.