Extremist Groups Carry Out Revenge, Sectarian Killings In HTS-Controlled Syria

Via The Cradle

Extremist armed factions across Syria are carrying out executions of civilians and soldiers amid the chaos following the fall of deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Al-Mayadeen reports on Tuesday that a video circulating on social media shows armed militants from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Al-Qaeda offshoot that took control of Damascus on Saturday, carrying out field executions of unarmed men in the village of al-Rabia in the countryside of Latakia.

The militants referred to the men as ‘Shabiha’, a derogatory term long used to describe pro-government Syrian soldiers and civilians.

The HTS military operations administration reported ongoing clashes in Al-Rabia, including the encirclement of a group of officers inside a fortified farm in the village, Al-Mayadeen stated.

In the Nawaha and Al-Asadiya neighborhoods, SNA militants burned houses of civilians, stole their property, and executed at least three people, including a woman, SOHR added.

On Monday, ISIS militants killed 54 Syrian army soldiers who were fleeing an attack by the terror group in the central province of Homs.

(Warning: Graphic)

Even more suspected SAA members are currently being EXECUTED by ISIS forces! pic.twitter.com/sKUsBWQGlS

— The Saviour (@stairwayto3dom) December 10, 2024

ISIS militants captured “personnel fleeing military service in the desert … during the collapse of the regime” of president Bashar al-Assad and “executed 54″ of them in the Sukhna area in the Homs desert, SOHR stated.

Syrian sources reported the assassination on Tuesday of Sheikh Tawfiq al-Bhouti by unknown attackers. Bhouti was the son of the world-renowned Sunni Muslim scholar Sheikh Muhammad Saeed Ramadan al-Bhouti, who was assassinated along with 40 others in a mosque in 2013 by members of the Nusra Front, now known as HTS.

More ughly killings appearing in Syria.

Here is the Turkish-backed militia called Maghawir al-Sham as it combs through an Alawite village in the Homs countryside and carries out liquidation operations. https://t.co/finsaaf1r8

— Joshua Landis (@joshua_landis) December 10, 2024

The elder Bhouti was an advocate of Sufism, and an opponent of Salafi interpretations of Islam that teach hatred against non-Muslims. Bhouti was a strong supporter of Bashar al-Assad’s government and spoke against the extremist armed groups attacking Syrian civilians, police, and soldiers during the war that began in 2011.