Death toll in violence on Syrian coast rises to more than 1,000, war monitor says
Source: AP via MPR News
Updated: March 8, 2025 3:14 PM CT
The death toll from two days of clashes between security forces and loyalists of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad and revenge killings that followed has risen to more than 1,000, including nearly 750 civilians, a war monitoring group said Saturday, making it one of the deadliest outbreaks of violence since Syria’s conflict began 14 years ago.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that in addition to 745 civilians, 125 members of the government security forces and 148 militants with armed groups affiliated with deposed President Bashar Assad were killed.
The clashes, which erupted Thursday, marked a major escalation in the challenge to the new government in Damascus, three months after insurgents took authority after removing Assad from power.
The revenge killings that started Friday by Sunni Muslim gunmen loyal to the government against members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect are a major blow to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the faction that led the overthrow of the former government. Alawites made up a large part of Assad’s support base for decades.
Read more: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/03/08/2-days-of-clashes-and-revenge-killings-in-syria-leave-more-than-600-people-dead
Very disappointing news.