Humanitarian groups helping persecuted Christians shared reports this week of Islamic extremists attacking and threatening the remaining Christian minority in Syria, warning they were “next” after the elimination of Alawite Shia Muslims.
Syria experienced a sudden eruption of violence against Alawites in its western coastal territories this weekend, attacks described as “revenge” against the minority for perceived support of ousted dictator Bashar Assad. Assad and his family are Alawites, a minority sect within Shia Islam, and Sunni jihadists in the country consider all who share that identity opposed to their goals.
Those jihadists have been emboldened by Assad’s ouster in December, which occurred after the Al Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a massively successful conquest campaign in late November 2024.
The HTS government, led by top jihadi Ahmed al-Sharaa, claimed on Thursday that a group of Assad sympathizers launched attacks against their forces in Latakia governate, an Alawite stronghold. Sharaa’s regime admitted to launching an “operation” against the alleged fighters, but claimed to avoid any civilian casualties.