One of the independent Syrian groups, the Civil Peace Group Seen, issued a statement this Sunday accusing foreign jihadists of participating in the brutal massacres of hundreds of Alawite civilians amid the chaos generated by the offensive launched by militias loyal to the defunct regime last Thursday.
The group has stated that they have identified 717 cases of extrajudicial executions in at least 29 localities, giving an idea of the extent of the raids suffered by members of the Syrian minority.
These "foreign agents" - as stated in the text - were responsible for the murder of "entire families," and therefore, activists demand that their presence in Syria be "immediately regulated," that they be prohibited from carrying weapons, and that those who have participated in the recent events be brought to justice.
In this regard, Syrian television has reported that the country's president, Ahmed al Sharaa, announced the creation of an independent commission to investigate what happened and identify "those responsible for violations against civilians." An inquiry that should conclude within a maximum period of 30 days. This is the same measure requested during the day by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Al Sharaa has also made another appeal to "preserve national unity, so that we are able to live together."
Analysts and regional experts are trying to clarify this sudden outbreak of sectarian violence, which according to the Lebanese newspaper L'Orient Le Jour and expert Aron Lund, confirms the precarious authority exercised by Al Sharaa. On this occasion, he has been "overwhelmed by the most radical sector within Hayat Tahrir al Sham" - as opined by the newspaper - which has carried out acts that will have "catastrophic consequences for the future" of the Arab nation.
Expert Ruslan Trad, from the Atlantic Council, has warned that "the current internal situation is fertile ground for external interventions that could reinforce divisions" within Syrian territory and added that Israel and Iran have become the two main destabilizing elements of the Arab state.
The Arab nation is barely recovering from the shock caused by both the initial onslaught of insurgents loyal to the dictatorship and the terrible reaction of uniformed personnel allied with the new government.
A spokesman for the Syrian Ministry of Defense, Colonel Hassan Abdul Ghani, explained that their troops have regained control of the major cities on the coast and are now preparing to embark on what he called the "second phase" of the counteroffensive, this time focused on the nearby mountains, where some opposing irregulars are still active.
The official Sana agency has indicated that opposition groups are still engaged in "violent clashes" in the rural areas of Tartus.
Local television has reported that Damascus forces have discovered a mass grave in Qardaha, the native town of the Assad clan, where they found four bodies of police officers kidnapped during the initial clashes that began last Thursday. Damascus troops did not regain control of Qardaha until this Saturday.
On that same day, residents of the village of Tuwaym - mostly Alawite - participated in the collective funeral of the 31 victims of the sectarian fury wave. The bodies, including nine children and four women, were buried in a mass grave.
Many other localities attended similar events, including the burials of nearly 200 members of the forces loyal to Damascus who were killed in the confrontation with the insurgents.
The endless list of casualties in this bloodshed includes one of the most revered figures of the Alawite minority, Sheikh Shabaan Mansour, 86, who was killed on Friday along with his son in a town in the province of Hama, not far from Latakia. For the Supreme Islamic Council of the Alawites, Mansour must be considered "a martyr of humanity."
The Alawite cleric Maijialdin Seldun, from Homs, confirmed the murder but stated that the deceased "would have opposed any call" for "revenge." "Sheikh Mansour was a sacred person, but we are tired of this bloodbath. The insurgents [followers of Assad] have tried to sow the seeds of hatred, and now we must restore calm," he added in a phone conversation.
Leaders of different Christian denominations and the main Druze religious figure in the country have joined calls to reduce sectarian tension and return to normalcy. "The flames burning under sectarian slogans can burn the entire country and its people," warned Druze Sheikh Hikmat al Hajri.
The same religious leaders of the Alawite community in Latakia have released another text in which they directly criticized the militiamen loyal to Assad for "igniting the fire of sedition." "Shame and dishonor to them," the message read.