KHIRBET AL-HAMMAM, Syria — Last week, violence surged into this village in western Syria, a place where it was expected that the conflict had diminished.
Munitions fired by former rebels struck homes, resulting in the death of a teenage boy and sparking fears of brutal retribution following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. While many parts of Syria are experiencing a sense of euphoria, areas like Khirbet al-Hammam are filled with anxiety, particularly since most residents belong to the Alawite sect, which Assad is part of. As the new Sunni Islamist rulers initiate a search for former government officials, Alawite neighborhoods are engulfed in fear and uncertainty, with reports of killings, disappearances, assaults, and sectarian intimidation circulating. This violence has presented an early challenge for Syria’s nascent government, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the former rebel group that overthrew Assad in early December with assistance from other insurgent factions and quickly made promises of stability. However, there have been increasing demands for vengeance against individuals from the previous regime as returning former rebels and other Syrians come back to their homes with mixed feelings of relief and resentment — to cities and towns that have become sites of trauma, filled with painful memories for both those who were exiled during the war and those who remained. Although HTS has announced plans to dissolve the country’s various rebel factions to form a unified military, this process has yet to begin, making it often challenging to identify who is responsible for the violence and why certain individuals are being targeted. Residents of Khirbet al-Hammam mentioned that the evening bombardment last week, executed by forces of the new government, might have been a mistake — potentially aimed at a notorious Assad loyalist and enforcer named Shujaa al-Ali, who they claimed was from a nearby village to the north. Alternatively, some speculated that the attack could have been directed at some of Ali’s associates passing through their community. “We can’t know,” said Mohamad Younis, the local mayor, as men around him vocally expressed support for the new de facto government and its leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa — sentiments that seemed both genuine and strategically intended to deter further attacks. A spokesperson for HTS did not immediately respond to inquiries regarding the assault on the village, but the group stated on Thursday that it had been targeting “remnants” of the former regime in the region. Little in Khirbet al-Hammam indicated it was favored by Assad’s administration. Residents noted that many made a living as farmers or through what one local referred to as “light smuggling,” transporting sugar and cooking oil across the border with Lebanon. There were also a few larger homes, some belonging to government employees with sought-after positions, according to residents. Cows wandered near the villas along worn dirt roads. Iyad Holo, a 40-year-old painter, recounted standing near his house with his son when it was struck on Thursday night. “God saved us,” he remarked. Tragically, a local boy, Amin al-Youssef, 16, was killed in front of Holo’s home while riding his motorcycle with his brother, who sustained injuries.
“Terrorists! They are all terrorists!” a man shouted outside a checkpoint in Homs last week, directed at an Alawite neighborhood surrounded by HTS fighters following a protest there on December 25. Last week, tensions in the region intensified when a video emerged online depicting what appeared to be an assault by armed individuals on an Alawite shrine in Aleppo. The origins of the video were uncertain, but HTS claimed the event took place in late November, coinciding with the rebels' takeover of the city from Assad’s forces; they attributed the attack to unidentified outsiders. As protests erupted in areas with a majority Alawite population, some individuals attempted to capitalize on the situation, including Ali, who was featured in another video reportedly filmed last week while addressing an agitated crowd. “They burned our shrine,” he declared. “We will burn mosques.” At the peak of his influence, Ali led at least 200 men, possessed a significant stockpile of weapons, and gained notoriety for his kidnapping-for-ransom operations, according to a former official from an Assad-era paramilitary group, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to concerns about retaliation. An HTS announcement on December 26 indicated that Ali was targeted during a government raid in Balqasa, located north of Khirbet al-Hammam, but it did not clarify whether he had been killed or captured. Social media videos purportedly showed his body being transported to Houla, near the site of a massacre of Sunni Muslims early in the civil war. The Washington Post was unable to independently verify his status. The Alawite demonstration in Homs on December 25 concluded with gunfire. HTS accused elements from the former regime of infiltrating the gathering, while local residents alleged that rebel fighters opened fire on the crowd, resulting in at least one fatality. The following day, fighters had barricaded several Alawite neighborhoods in the city, claiming it was a measure to capture wanted individuals and confiscate weapons. Vehicles were barred from entering these neighborhoods, and residents were interrogated before being allowed passage. “We don’t have any issues with Alawites,” stated a fighter named Fadi from Idlib province, where HTS is based. “Our issue lies with those who collaborated with the gang of criminals.” “They have blood on their hands,” he continued. “They aim to prevent us from establishing a new state.” Two days later, while fighters were still present in the area, the blockade had loosened and vehicles were able to pass through. Members of an Alawite family residing in Akrama, one of the neighborhoods, expressed ongoing fear about leaving their homes, particularly after dark. The parents ventured out for a few hours on Saturday to shop but refrained from allowing their 26-year-old son to leave the house, concerned he might not return. The mother, father, and two of their children spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fears of retaliation
They expressed relief at Assad's departure, but not at the manner of his removal, which involved fighters from Idlib who believed that anyone remaining in the area supported the regime, as noted by the son. Some of the former combatants made them uneasy. “They were fighting in the wild. What will they do in urban areas?” the mother remarked, pointing out the long hair of some ex-rebels, some of whom were inquiring about residents' sect affiliations. The father's phone rang. “We went to get bread and returned,” he informed a worried friend. “Hopefully, things will be alright.” He then called local leaders, who were occupied, he mentioned, going door-to-door in the neighborhood, urging residents to surrender their weapons. The family mentioned that at least one person they knew, a distant relative, had gone missing recently. Their social media was filled with reports of violence against Alawites, including an incident in Homs where six individuals were killed. At the heart of the situation was Hatem Suleiman, an Alawite lawyer who was attempting to relocate from his neighborhood in Homs when he was killed along with several movers, according to a relative who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons. The relative indicated that the murders were partly due to a dispute over unpaid rent. However, as the story circulated on social media and within a community on edge, it was perceived as a frightening narrative of Alawites being targeted for retribution. The family in Akrama were tenants in the area, despite the father's long-standing government employment, which was primarily supported by a son working abroad. They recognized the desire to hold former regime members accountable, asserting that those who committed murders or ordered torture were criminals. However, many individuals in the old government were merely “doing their jobs,” the mother stated. She added that Alawites were “poor and peaceful, despite the previous authority.” “Nobody chooses how they are born,” the father remarked. Just outside an HTS checkpoint in Homs, Rateb Almisrah, a 24-year-old dentist, noted that Alawite neighborhoods were being targeted because they housed “some criminals who do not heed the new government.” Yet he was anxious about a friend residing in that area, whom he had not heard from since the protest on December 25. “We are waiting for him to reach out to us,” he said.