Thread about the situation on #Syria's #Alawite coastal region My brother-in-law traveled from Qadmous to Latakia today - March 12, 2025. This is what he saw. He was accompanied by Sunni regime officials to make sure that he would not be shot.

He counted 8 checkpoints between his village and Banias on the coast - a 20 minute drive - from his village. There were no Amn al-`Amm (gov security) at any of the checkpoints. He did not see any HTS uniforms or police uniforms. None of the vehicles had markings on them. (Photo of Qadmous castle)

Most men at the 8 checkpoints were wearing masks to hide their faces. Those manning the checkpoints between the town of al-Midan and Sqibleh (the higher mountains) were strangers to the region. Those between Sqibleh and Banias (the lower mountains) were from the Banias region. There were two very different types of men on the road.

In the 5 villages of Barmaya, Sqibleh, al-Midan, Khirbet al-Qabou, and Hamam Wasil, there were no "Ishtibakat", exchanges of fire. There were no people in any of these villages who fired at soldiers or who held guns. All shooting was completely one side

In Midan, many of the houses and shops were burnt. Some were hit by tank fire. In Barmaya, houses were burnt. He saw a crowd of people. Someone was distributing bread because there is nothing left in the stores of the region and there is no food. These people not from the region. One car had written on it: Hukumat Inqath al-watani or National government rescue." There were men in military uniform.

In Sqibleh, stores were burnt. On the main highway from Banyas to Jisr al-Qardaha, it was clear that there had been fighting between HTS and Alawite resistance because there were HTS cars burnt on the side of the road.

One #Syrian government official said that the burnt HTS vehicles were not necessarily destroyed by Alawites but by other Sunni militia fighters. On the Autostrad from Banyas, there is a town named Qrfais where smoke and fires were still present.

In the first 10 minutes on the highway from Banias to Latakia, there were 3 check points. Almost no cars were seen on the main highway. Burnt cars were clearly visible on both sides of the road. But no one was traveling on the highway.

10 kilometers from Latakia, in the town of Snobar Jableh, my brother-in-law rents to wear-houses from an engineer, Usama Saleh, who lived above the wear houses. Armed men stole all $45,000 dollars of his fertilizer, killed Usama, killed all members of his family, and burned his house.

Over 150 were killed in Snobar Jableh. Firas called a friend in the village to check on him. Someone else answered and said that the phone was no longer owned by his friend.

He arrived home safe from his village, where everyone had been hiding from attackers for several days. Those who helped him out of the village were very kind and polite to him. Two days ago the village was attacked by armed me. None of the villagers had guns.

All of the villagers hid in the fields. Two were found by the attackers and shot in the head and killed. They used a drone to search the place. One neighboring village, al-Midan, had many homes burnt. My brother-in-law's village was not burnt, possibly because it is lower in a valley and the attackers feared a possible ambushed.

Estimates of dead on the coast of #Syria - over 3,000 seem reasonable at this point, although my brother-in-law says that no one can be certain as people are not free to move and no accounting has been made. People are saying that the dead bodies are being buried in mass graves and burnt, but we don't know the truth of these claims. (This video shows many killed in only one village.) https://x.com/Drziadmostafa/status/1899520750588932337…

These fires in a village near #qadmous #Syria were started on March 13, 2025, two days after my brother-in-law left his village. This Moula Hassan. Soldiers fired rockets into the forests and fields. The depredations have not stopped, despite orders from Ahmad, al-Sharaa https://www.facebook.com/100033633453062/posts/1392684528529316/?mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=38yUBBt9ADh7DftZ#…