Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sarrah promised on Sunday that those responsible for the "bloodshed of civilians" would be held accountable, while early today a non-governmental organization reported at least 973 civilians killed in the western part of the country, where the bloodiest incidents to break out in Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad have continued since last week.
The UN, as well as the diplomacy of the US and other countries, condemned the massacres of civilians and called on the de facto Syrian authorities to put an end to them.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a non-governmental organization with a wide network of sources in Syria, “the total number of civilian martyrs (…) has increased to 973, including women and children.” The NGO spoke of “murders,” “summary executions,” and “ethnic cleansing” operations.
The wave of violence erupted last Thursday, triggered by a deadly attack by alleged supporters of Bashar al-Assad against security forces in the city of Jableh, near Latakia, the cradle of the Shiite Alawite minority, to which the family of the former president, who was overthrown by an alliance of rebels and jihadists on December 8, belongs.
The new authorities in Damascus sent reinforcements to provinces neighboring Latakia and Tartus to support security forces' operations against Assad's supporters.
At least 481 members of the security forces and armed supporters of former President Assad have also lost their lives since last Thursday, in other words the dead are around 1.500, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The interim authorities have not made any report public.
Calling during a speech at an Islamic mosque in Damascus to defend "national unity" and "peace", interim President Sarah announced that an "independent" "investigation" committee was being formed for "crimes against civilians" in order to identify the perpetrators and "bring them to justice."
"We will demand accountability," he insisted, according to a video broadcast by the Syrian state news agency, "without mercy, from any person involved in the bloodshed of civilians (…) or who exceeded state powers," promising that a committee would be formed to "protect common peace."
Mr. Sarah, as the former head of the radical Sunni armed organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), designated "terrorist" by many countries, including the United States, led the alliance that toppled Mr. Assad on December 8, forcing the ousted president to flee to Moscow.
The transitional head of Syrian diplomacy, Assad Al-Shibani, assured from Amman that the de facto authorities are "guarantors" of the security and rights of all the Syrian people and "all religions" and that "we protect everyone in the same way."
Since taking power in the multi-ethnic and multi-religious country, where civil war has raged for over 13 years, Ahmad Sarah has sought to secure international support and appease minorities.
In his Sunday sermon, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, John X, declared that massacres of “many innocent Christians” had been committed. In the majority of them, he insisted, the victims were “innocent and unarmed civilians, including women and children.”
Syria's autonomous Kurdish authorities, who control large parts of the east and north of the country, condemned "the practices" that "return us to a dark era that the Syrian people do not want to relive."
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, for his part, urged Europe to stop offering "legitimacy" to the de facto Syrian government with a "well-known terrorist past."
Yesterday, Sunday, the Interior Ministry reported that further "reinforcements" had been sent to Kadmous, in Tartus province, where security forces were "pursuing the last loyalists of the old regime," according to it.
SANA reported "fierce clashes" in Taanita, a mountain village in the same sector, where it said many "war criminals" of the previous regime had taken refuge under the protection of "Assad loyalists."
In the village of Bisnada, in Latakia province, security forces were searching houses, an AFP photojournalist saw.
"More than fifty people, my relatives and friends, were killed," a resident of Jableh told AFP on condition of anonymity. He added that their bodies were thrown into mass graves or "thrown into the sea."
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights released videos on Friday showing dozens of civilian-clad bodies in a courtyard and women mourning a short distance away. Another video shows men in military uniforms forcing three people to the ground and do handcuffs before shooting them. AFP said it was unable to verify the authenticity of the footage at this stage.
According to Aaron Lund of the Century International think tank, the outbreak of violence shows how "fragile" the de facto government is, as it relies on "jihadists" who "consider the Alawites enemies of God."
In Damascus, security forces intervened to break up a sit-in protest against the massacres of civilians, following a counter-demonstration with a central demand for a "Sunni state" that was marred by slogans against the Alawites.
Source: protothema.gr
