‘Entire families’ killed in Syria fighting, UN says

Entire families including women and children have been killed in Syria’s coastal region as part of recent a series of sectarian killings by rival groups, the UN human rights office said.

The wave of violence broke out last Thursday, when armed groups loyal to deposed former President Bashar al-Assad ambushed security forces in the province of Latakia, killing at least 16 members of the security forces, according to the Ministry of Defence.

The attacks escalated into sectarian violence, with pro-government forces rampaging through coastal provinces heavily populated by Alawites, as well as the nearby provinces of Hama and Homs, killing people, sometimes entire families, on streets, in homes, on rooftops.

Of the roughly 1,000 civilians killed, nearly 200 were in Baniyas, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor.

media was not able to independently verify the death toll.

“In a number of extremely disturbing instances, entire families – including women, children and individuals hors de combat – were killed, with predominantly Alawite cities and villages targeted in particular,” UN human rights office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said on Tuesday.

He said initial reports indicated that the perpetrators, who have not been identified, were both members of armed groups supporting Syria’s interim authorities and those associated with the former government.

“They appear to have been carried out on a sectarian basis, in Tartous, Latakia and Hama governorates – reportedly by unidentified armed individuals, members of armed groups allegedly supporting the caretaker authorities’ security forces, and by elements associated with the former government.”

On Sunday, the country’s new presidency led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced the formation of a fact-finding committee to “investigate the violations against civilians and identify those responsible for them”. It said it would present its findings within 30 days and that those found to be responsible for violations would be referred to the judiciary.