Syria's pro-government troops announced the end of the large-scale offensive in coastal areas after days of deadly violence killed hundreds of civilians, pledging to continue chasing remnants of the former Assad regime.
"We announce the conclusion of the military operation," Hassan Abdul Ghany, the defence ministry spokesman, said on Monday. "New plans have been developed to continue the fight against the remnants of the deposed regime, to eliminate any future threats, and to prevent the reorganisation of criminal cells," he added.
More than 1,300 people, including 973 civilians, most of whom were Alawites, have been killed since Thursday in a wave of sectarian killings in areas along the Mediterranean, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor based in the UK. It added that new “killings and field executions” were recorded in Tartous, Banias and areas of Latakia.
Syria's interim President Ahmad Al Shara pledged that his government would hold accountable anyone involved in the killing of civilians, adding that a committee would be formed to preserve peace.
“We will hold accountable, firmly and without leniency, anyone who was involved in the bloodshed of civilians … or who overstepped the powers of the state,” Mr Al Shara said on Sunday in a video posted by state news agency Sana, adding that a committee would be formed to “protect civil peace”. Earlier in the day, the presidency announced on Telegram that an “independent committee” had been formed to “investigate the violations against civilians and identify those responsible for them”, who would face the courts.
He said the country was confronting attempts to drag it into a civil war as clashes continued across the coastal areas, adding that Syria would not allow “external or local forces” to do so. Mr Al Shara did not name what external powers he was referring to but said the “remnants of the former regime” had no choice but to immediately surrender.
The committee will be tasked with speaking to residents of the coastal areas and listening to them to provide security and to strengthen national unity, according to the presidency. It will also investigate the violations against civilians, determine the culprits and refer them to court, the statement added.
UN rights chief Volker Turk on Sunday said the killings “must cease immediately”, while the Arab League, the UN, the US, Britain and other governments have condemned the violence. The US and Russia have asked the UN Security Council to meet behind closed doors on Monday, Reuters reported, quoting diplomats.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Syria “must hold the perpetrators of these massacres against Syria's minority communities accountable”, while Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Damascus authorities “must ensure the protection of all Syrians and set out a clear path to transitional justice”.
“There are reports of summary executions on a sectarian basis by unidentified perpetrators, by members of the caretaker authorities’ security forces, as well as by elements associated with the former government,” Mr Turk said.
Russia is co-ordinating with the US on Syria, the Tass news agency reported on Monday, quoting Moscow's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia. Asked on Monday about the killings in Syria, the Kremlin said violence in the country must end as soon as possible.
Fighting broke out between the new security troops under the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham-run government and loyalists of the former regime of Bashar Al Assad after tension escalated into reports of mass killings. The fighting has also killed hundreds of security troops and pro-Assad fighters, according to the observatory.
Since HTS took over, there have been campaigns on the coastal areas in which killings of members of the Alawite minority group – to which Mr Al Assad belongs – have been reported, as well as some casualties from the security troops.
Mr Al Shara made several calls for peace and unity since the fighting broke out last week. “God willing, we will be able to live together in this country,” he said in a separate address on Sunday from a Damascus mosque.
Since the victory of HTS – which was formerly linked to Al Qaeda – in December, the new Syria authorities have pledged to protect Syria's religious and ethnic minorities. Western diplomats have since flown in to express support for the change in regime as they seek to ease sanctions and provide investment to rebuild the country, devastated by 13 years of civil war.
The Kurdish administration said it “firmly condemns the crimes committed against our people on the coast and underlines that these practices take us back to a dark period that the Syrian people do not want to relive”.
