Syrian Leader Promises Investigation After Reports of Alawite Massacres

Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa said a fact-finding committee will investigate last week’s events and ’reveal the facts to the Syrian people.’

Smoke rises from a factory hit during clashes by Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to former President Bashar Assad on the outskirts of Latakia, Syria, on March 7, 2025. Omar Albam/AP

Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, has promised to hold accountable anyone involved in the “bloodshed of civilians” after reports over the weekend indicated the forces of the new government had killed hundreds of Alawite civilians in northwest Syria.

The current de facto government in Damascus was formed by members of HTS, a Sunni Islamist group designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government. HTS emerged from al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of the al-Qaeda terrorist group.