Northern Syria, especially the part towards the Mediterranean coast, is in the throes of an extremely bloody conflict with massacres against Alawites and Christians alike by the Turkish-backed Islamic regime and its jihadist militants.

The ethnic cleansing, which threatens to destabilize once again the country that has experienced endless warfare for 15 years, is unfolding under the gaze of the international community, which condemns but for now has not gone beyond…recommendations for “restraint“. The United States and Russia have, however, called for the United Nations Security Council to meet on Monday, behind closed doors to discuss the escalating violence.

The latest tally from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights puts the death toll at least 1,311 in recent days. Of these, more than 830 were civilians, mostly Alawites, the majority of whom were executed. More than 480 are the armed dead from both sides.

Even these numbers – which are extremely high given that the fighting lasted only a few days – are difficult to confirm. It is equally difficult to rule out the possibility that the casualties may be even more.

Northwestern Syria, near the coast where the massacres are being recorded, is home to the minority Alawite Islamic community, from which ousted President Bashar al-Assad descended. However, most Alawites were not associated with the Assad regime. There is also a strong Christian element in the region. 

Syria’s new authorities have promised Alawites that they will be safe under their rule and that there will be no retaliatory killings. What has happened in recent days has caused waves of fear in the religious minority community.

Attacks in the Alawite area

Videos on social media show bodies of dozens of people – apparently civilians – in the town of Al-Mukhtariya, where more than 40 people were killed together. Other videos, the Guardian continues, showed militants wearing security uniforms executing people at point-blank range, ordering men to bark like dogs and beating prisoners.

Eyewitnesses also say gunmen killed at least 14 people who all belonged to the Arris family. They even executed the 75-year-old father and three sons in front of the family’s mother. They then asked the woman to remove her jewelry or they would kill her.

The fighting began on Thursday when militants loyal to the Assad regime, toppled last December, ambushed government security forces in Jabla, in Latakia province.

It was, as the Guardian notes, a large-scale, coordinated attack that became the biggest challenge to the country’s Islamist regime.

The Syrian government sought reinforcements and thousands of fighters moved into the area from across the country. Although the fighters are formally under the auspices of the new Syrian government, there are still armed forces, some of which have engaged in human rights abuses in the past and are relatively unregulated.

“National unity” calls for al-Saraa

From the Syrian government so far, there have been mere appeals and talk of “isolated acts” that have led to the deaths of civilians. It even claims that it is the influx of militants that has led to human rights violations.

Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Saraa called for “maintaining national unity and peace among civilians as much as possible“.

The presidency also moved to set up an “independent commission” to investigate the killings taking place in the North West. The seven-member commission will be tasked mainly to investigate “atrocities against civilians“, “determine those responsible” and bring them to justice.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered in a central Damascus square on Sunday to protest the incidents of violence.

Turkey considers the massacres in Syria “a provocation against the Syrian government”

Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Hakhan Fidan, has called the escalation of fighting in Syria a provocation against the Syrian government.

In remarks on Sunday, following a meeting with his Jordanian counterpart, Fidan said of the attacks on Alawites in Latakia, Syria, that “we see that the policy that the Syrian government has been implementing without any provocation for weeks is being derailed by a provocation.”

US: “Hold those responsible accountable”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that “the perpetrators of the massacres must be held accountable“. The US, Rubio continued, “condemns radical Islamist terrorists, including foreign jihadists, who murder civilians.“

As the US Secretary added, “the US stands with religious and ethnic minorities in Syria, including the Christian, Druze, Alawi and Kurdish communities.“

In London, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said reports of multiple civilian killings in Syria’s coastal regions were “horrific” and called on authorities in Damascus to ensure that all Syrians are protected from violence. “The authorities in Damascus must ensure the protection of all Syrians and chart a clear path to transitional justice,” Lami stressed in a brief statement on social media.