Beirut:
For 2 days, Rihab Kamel and her household hid terrified of their toilet within the metropolis of Baniyas as armed males stormed the neighbourhood, pursuing members of Syria’s Alawite minority.

The coastal metropolis is a part of Syria’s Alawite heartland that has been gripped by the fiercest violence since former president Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December.

“We turned off the lights and hid. Once we had been in a position to flee our neighbourhood of Al-Qusour, we discovered the roads filled with corpses,” Kamel, a 35-year-old mom, instructed AFP.

A Christian household sheltered them after which helped them attain the frontier with Lebanon, she mentioned, including that they deliberate to flee throughout the border.

“What crime did the youngsters commit? Are additionally they supporters of the (toppled) regime?” she mentioned. “We as Alawites are harmless.”

The violence erupted on Thursday after gunmen loyal to Assad attacked Syria’s new safety forces. The following clashes resulted in dozens of deaths on each side.

Warfare monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights later reported that safety forces and allied teams killed no less than 745 Alawite civilians in Latakia and Tartus provinces.

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that spearheaded the lightning offensive that toppled Assad, on Sunday known as for “nationwide unity (and) civil peace” to be preserved.

“God prepared, we will stay collectively on this nation,” he mentioned at a mosque in Damascus.

However in villages and cities on the coast, folks spoke of systematic killings.

‘Minutes’ from demise

Assad, himself an Alawite, sought to current himself as protector of Syria’s minorities.

The brand new authorities have repeatedly promised an inclusive transition that protects the rights of non secular minorities.

The Alawite heartland has nonetheless been gripped by a concern of reprisals over the Assad clan’s many years of brutal rule.

Baniyas resident Samir Haidar, 67, instructed AFP two of his brothers and his nephew had been killed by “armed teams” that entered folks’s properties.

Although an Alawite himself, Haidar belonged to the leftist opposition beneath the Assads and was imprisoned for greater than a decade.

He mentioned he started listening to explosions and gunfire on Friday morning with the arrival of forces deployed to town, including that there have been “foreigners amongst them”.

“They entered the constructing and killed my solely neighbour,” he mentioned.

He managed to flee together with his spouse and two youngsters to a Sunni neighbourhood, however mentioned: “If I had been 5 minutes late, I might have been killed.”

That very same day, armed males entered his brother’s constructing 100 metres (yards) away.

“They gathered all the lads on the roof and opened hearth on them,” Haidar mentioned.

“My nephew survived as a result of he hid, however my brother was killed together with all the lads within the constructing.”

He added that one other brother, who was 74, and nephew had been killed together with all the lads of their constructing.

“There are homes with 4 or 5 useless our bodies in them,” Haidar mentioned.

“We have now appealed to have the ability to bury our useless,” he mentioned, including that he has to date been unable to bury his brothers.

‘Our bodies within the sea’

Within the port metropolis of Latakia, AFP heard testimonies from residents who mentioned armed teams kidnapped plenty of Alawites who had been killed.

Amongst them was the top of a state-run cultural centre, Yasser Sabbouh, who was kidnapped and whose corpse was dumped exterior his dwelling, an AFP reporter mentioned.

In Jableh additional south, a resident spoke to AFP in tears, saying they had been being terrorised by armed teams who had taken management of the city.

“There are six of us in the home, with my dad and mom and my brothers. There’s been no electrical energy for 4 days, no water. We have now nothing to eat and we don’t dare exit,” he mentioned on situation of anonymity, fearing for his security.

“Greater than 50 folks from amongst my household and buddies have been killed,” he added. “They gathered our bodies with bulldozers and buried them in mass graves.”

Jaafar Ali, a 32-year-old Alawite from the area, fled to neighbouring Lebanon together with his brother.

“I do not assume I am going again quickly,” he mentioned. “We’re refugees with no homeland. We would like nations to open up (channels for) humanitarian migration for Alawites.”

(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)