A committee of inquiry formed by the Syrian regime of Ahmed al-Sharaa reported this Tuesday that during the armed clashes in March, 1,426 people died, either in attacks targeting Syrian security forces or in the subsequent massacres of members of the Alawite community.
Nevertheless, the regime's report concluded that the top military commanders did not issue orders to carry out those attacks, and the report keeps that it was for "reasons based mainly on revenge, not ideology."
The events took place in the country's coastal area and represent the most serious acts of violence since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime at the end of last year. The committee's work is considered a key assessment for the new Syrian authorities, made up largely of former rebel jihadists who fought against Assad, who now face new sources of tension with other minorities in the southwest of the country.
La conferencia de prensa sobre el informe.
The report asserts that the top commanders did not authorize the abuses, and even "ordered them to stop." According to the committee's chairman, Jumaa Al-Anzi, 298 suspects linked to crimes against Alawites and another 265 related to the initial attack on the security forces were identified.
The names of those involved have not been revealed for the moment and will be tried for their crimes, spokesperson Yasser Farhan explained. He added that 31 people accused of massacres against civilians have already been arrested, along with six individuals identified as "remnants" of the previous regime.
Meanwhile, an investigation by the Reuters agency, conducted last month, documented the deaths of 1,479 Alawites and the disappearance of dozens more in 40 different locations where revenge killings are believed to have occurred. The report also identified a chain of command that would directly connect the strikers to figures close to the new Syrian government in Damascus.
Soldados del régimen sirio.
The March massacre
The escalation of violence in March broke out on the 6th with attacks targeting Syrian security units deployed in the region. As a result, several hospitals and other public institutions were put out of service, and extensive areas came under non-state control, spokesperson Yasser Farhan indicated.
The committee determined that 238 security personnel lost their lives during these attacks, which were attributed to forces still linked to Assad's previous regime, Farhan noted. In response, approximately 200,000 armed men moved from different parts of the country to the coastal region.
This led to a series of abuses that included killings, looting, and sectarian incitement speeches. According to the committee, these events were "widespread, though not coordinated," Farhan explained.
