Syria's leader Ahmed Sharaa calls for peace after more than 1,000 people killed in massacre - marking one of war-torn country's deadliest days
Syria's leader Ahmed Ahmed al-Sharaa has called for peace after more than 1,000 people were killed in a massacre this week on one of the deadliest days in the war-torn country.
The interim President, who led the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that spearheaded the lightning offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad, on Sunday called for 'national unity (and) civil peace' to be preserved.
'God willing, we will be able to live together in this country,' he said at a mosque in Damascus.
The violence erupted on Thursday after gunmen loyal to Assad attacked Syria's new security forces. The ensuing clashes resulted in dozens of deaths on both sides.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in addition to 745 civilians of the Alawite minority, mostly killed in massacres, 125 government security force members and 148 with armed groups affiliated with Assad were killed.
It added that electricity and drinking water were cut off in large areas around the city of Latakia.
The clashes are some of the deadliest since Syria's conflict began 14 years ago, and marked a major escalation in the challenge to the new government in Damascus, three months after insurgents took authority after removing Assad from power.
Witnesses revealed how women were reportedly told to 'walk naked' before being shot dead amid horrifying scenes in Syria.
Assad, himself an Alawite, sought to present himself as protector of Syria's minorities.
The new authorities have repeatedly promised an inclusive transition that protects the rights of religious minorities.
The Alawite heartland has nonetheless been gripped by a fear of reprisals over the Assad clan's decades of brutal rule.
Baniyas resident Samir Haidar, 67, told AFP two of his brothers and his nephew were killed by 'armed groups' that entered people's homes.
Though an Alawite himself, Haidar belonged to the leftist opposition under the Assads and was imprisoned for more than a decade.
He said he began hearing explosions and gunfire on Friday morning with the arrival of forces deployed to the city, adding that there were 'foreigners among them'.
'They entered the building and killed my only neighbour,' he said.
He managed to escape with his wife and two children to a Sunni neighbourhood, but said: 'If I had been five minutes late, I would have been killed.'
That same day, armed men entered his brother's building 100 metres (yards) away.
'They gathered all the men on the roof and opened fire on them,' Haidar said. 'My nephew survived because he hid, but my brother was killed along with all the men in the building.'
He added that another brother, who was 74, and nephew were killed along with all the men in their building.
'There are houses with four or five dead bodies in them,' Haidar said. 'We have appealed to be able to bury our dead,' he said, adding that he has so far been unable to bury his brothers.
In the port city of Latakia, residents said armed groups abducted a number of Alawites who were killed.
Among them was the head of a state-run cultural centre, Yasser Sabbouh, who was kidnapped and whose corpse was dumped outside his home, an AFP reporter said.
In Jableh further south, a resident said in tears that they were being terrorised by armed groups who had taken control of the town.
'There are six of us in the house, with my parents and my brothers. There's been no electricity for four days, no water. We have nothing to eat and we do not dare go out,' he said on condition of anonymity, fearing for his safety.
'More than 50 people from among my family and friends have been killed,' he added. 'They gathered bodies with bulldozers and buried them in mass graves.'
Jaafar Ali, a 32-year-old Alawite from the region, fled to neighbouring Lebanon with his brother.
'I don't think I'm going back soon,' he said. 'We are refugees without a homeland. We want countries to open up (channels for) humanitarian migration for Alawites.'
Rihab Kamel and her family hid terrified in their bathroom in the city of Baniyas for two days as armed men stormed the neighbourhood, pursuing members of Syria's Alawite minority.
'We turned off the lights and hid. When we were able to flee our neighbourhood of Al-Qusour, we found the roads full of corpses,' Kamel, a 35-year-old mother, told AFP.
A Christian family sheltered them and then helped them reach the frontier with Lebanon, she said, adding that they planned to flee across the border.
'What crime did the children commit? Are they also supporters of the (toppled) regime?' she said. 'We as Alawites are innocent.'
The United Nations on Sunday said reports of entire families being killed in northwestern Syria was 'extremely disturbing' and it called for an immediate halt to the violence.
UN rights chief Volker Turk demanded prompt investigations into the killings and said those responsible must be held to account.
Clashes between Syria's security forces and loyalists of the former government erupted on Thursday in the heartland of the Alawite minority to which ousted president Bashar al-Assad belongs, and have since escalated into reported mass killings.
Turk said in a statement: 'There are reports of summary executions on a sectarian basis by unidentified perpetrators, by members of the caretaker authorities' security forces, as well as by elements associated with the former government.'
He said that 'we are receiving extremely disturbing reports of entire families, including women, children and hors de combat fighters, being killed' and demanded that 'the killing of civilians in coastal areas in northwest Syria must cease, immediately'.
Turk said announcements by the country's authorities to respect the law need to be followed by action to protect Syrians, and to ensure accountability for abuses.
'There must be prompt, transparent and impartial investigations into all the killings and other violations, and those responsible must be held to account, in line with international law norms and standards. Groups terrorising civilians must also be held accountable,' Turk said.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization's chief called the clashes deeply concerning and said they were directly impacting people's health, as health facilities and ambulances had been damaged.
'WHO is working to deliver emergency medicines and trauma supplies for the immediate care of the injured,' Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
'WHO urges all parties to respect and safeguard health services to ensure medical aid reaches those who need it most. Peace is the best medicine,' the UN health agency's director-general said.
