Interim Syrian government forces led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) set up roadblocks on Monday in Alawite districts in the central city of Homs, residents said, as a campaign intensified to capture regime remnants, despite fears of a slide towards sectarian retribution that would undermine any state-building.
The three-week campaign in Homs and the Alawite coastal heartland has drawn outcry among the minority community who provided core support for the 54-year rule of Bashar Al Assad and his father Hafez, who came from the same sect.
The dynastic rule in Damascus fell to HTS, which has origins in the extremist Al Nusra Front and Al Qaeda, on December 8. Until last month, the group was based in the northern Idlib governorate near Turkey, but now it controls almost all of Syria, a country at the crossroads of Middle East struggles.
"They [HTS} say they are doing this to protect us," said one Alawite resident in the southern Al Akramah district in the mixed metropolitan area of 1.5 million.
In the past several weeks, members of the Alawite community have published videos on social media purportedly showing HTS personnel beating and stamping on young Alawite men in Homs and its surrounding countryside, as well as in the mountainous coastal area. HTS-led formations have killed about 75 Alawites, including several women, during the incursions, they say.
HTS, which has been methodically replacing the mostly Alawite general managers in the government, previously vowed to prosecute elements of the former regime it said have been involved in atrocities committed against its people. But the group, led by Ahmad Al Shara, is also seeking outside support to rebuild the country.
It has not commented on the purported Alawite death toll. The Joint Operations Room, a formation of HTS and auxiliary forces, said its fighters have been engaged in battling "criminal remnants of the regime" in the coastal area of Tartus. In mid-December, it said 17 of its forces had been killed in an ambush in Jableh, another coastal area, in pursuit of a pro-Assad warlord.
In 1963, Alawite officers took power in a coup. The Alawite-dominated rule since has involved widespread killings and mass disappearances, mainly among the majority Sunni population, especially after the uprising in 2011 demanding an end to the Al Assad family's rule. Alawites comprised about 10 per cent of Syria's 22 million population on the eve of the uprising.
The downfall of Mr Al Assad has forced Shiite Iran and its Hezbollah ally to pull out of Syria, in a major shift of the politico-religious dynamics in the region.
But US, Turkish and Russian forces remain stationed in Syria, backing various factions in the civil war, which started after authorities killed thousands of civilians in the crackdown on the mass pro-democracy demonstrations in late 2011. The civil war has resulted in millions of overwhelmingly Sunni refugees escaping to neighbouring Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and beyond.
On Monday, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the kingdom was ready to help the Syrian people, "who must be able to stand with their own will and be able to rebuild their country, and ensure its security".
"Their basic needs must be met as soon as possible and re-establishing order is important, [as is] an increase in energy capacity, economy, trade and transport," he said.
Jordan is among several US allies in the Middle East who have been worried about religious extremist rule replacing the minority-based ruling system under Mr Al Assad, a factor in a move by most Arab countries to end hostilities with Damascus in the three years before his downfall.
Days after the end of the regime, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said "any transitional government should be inclusive, non-sectarian" and "protect the rights of all Syrians, including minorities".
The US administration, however, approved the easing of aid restrictions to Syria at the weekend to allow potential exports of goods relating to the water and electricity sector, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company%20profile
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Abu Dhabi card
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 2,400m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 2,200m
6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
The National selections:
5pm: Valcartier
5.30pm: AF Taraha
6pm: Dhafra
6.30pm: Maqam
7pm: AF Mekhbat
7.30pm: Ezz Al Rawasi
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Al Jazira's foreign quartet for 2017/18
Romarinho, Brazil
Lassana Diarra, France
Sardor Rashidov, Uzbekistan
Mbark Boussoufa, Morocco
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Brief scores
Toss India, chose to bat
India 281-7 in 50 ov (Pandya 83, Dhoni 79; Coulter-Nile 3-44)
Australia 137-9 in 21 ov (Maxwell 39, Warner 25; Chahal 3-30)
India won by 26 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Barcelona 3
Messi (27’, 32’, 87’)
Leganes 1
El Zhar (68’)
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
More on animal trafficking
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Representing%20UAE%20overseas
%3Cp%3E%0DIf%20Catherine%20Richards%20debuts%20for%20Wales%20in%20the%20Six%20Nations%2C%20she%20will%20be%20the%20latest%20to%20have%20made%20it%20from%20the%20UAE%20to%20the%20top%20tier%20of%20the%20international%20game%20in%20the%20oval%20ball%20codes.%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESeren%20Gough-Walters%20(Wales%20rugby%20league)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EBorn%20in%20Dubai%2C%20raised%20in%20Sharjah%2C%20and%20once%20an%20immigration%20officer%20at%20the%20British%20Embassy%20in%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20she%20debuted%20for%20Wales%20in%20rugby%20league%20in%202021.%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESophie%20Shams%20(England%20sevens)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EWith%20an%20Emirati%20father%20and%20English%20mother%2C%20Shams%20excelled%20at%20rugby%20at%20school%20in%20Dubai%2C%20and%20went%20on%20to%20represent%20England%20on%20the%20sevens%20circuit.%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFiona%20Reidy%20(Ireland)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMade%20her%20Test%20rugby%20bow%20for%20Ireland%20against%20England%20in%202015%2C%20having%20played%20for%20four%20years%20in%20the%20capital%20with%20Abu%20Dhabi%20Harlequins%20previously.%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
