Syria's Alawites still face targeted attacks

Beirut, Apr. 16:A month after a wave of revenge attacks left hundreds of Alawite civilians dead, members of the Syrian religious minority are still living in fear, with dozens killed in smaller attacks since the start of April.

The Muslim minority group was seen as a privileged minority under the rule of the Alawite Assad family, but since Bashar Assad 's government fell late last year members have feared revenge from the country's Sunni majority.

The new government promised to protect minority groups, but when a group of Assad loyalists attacked security forces near the coastal city of Latakia last month, it sparked a counteroffensive that took a brutal toll on the coastal region's largely Alawite population.

Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that more than 1,700 people, most of them civilians, were killed in March. While no official figures have been released by the government, other human rights groups have given similar estimates. It was the worst violence since an insurgency led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham overthrew Assad last December.

Rights groups reported widespread revenge killings as militants from Syria's Sunni majority targeted Alawites, regardless of whether they were involved in the insurgency.

"Several people told me that when these militia members entered their home, in addition to asking if they were Alawite or Sunni, they blamed them for what happened to them under the former Assad government," said Diana Semaan, Amnesty International's Syria researcher who investigated dozens of killings that took place in Baniyas and spoke to eyewitnesses and survivors.

While there has not been another outbreak of violence on the same scale, Alawites continue to report incidents of harassment, shakedowns and sometimes worse.

An Alawite who lives in the Latakia area said there are still regular attacks targeting Alawites, most of whom had nothing to do with the Assad government or security forces.

"Everyone from the regime or close to it fled a long time ago," he told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear for his life.

He said a 20-year-old factory worker who was the breadwinner of his family was shot by guards at a local checkpoint, even though he had not served in the army under Assad.(AP)