‘Unprecedented cruelty’: War monitor says HTS militants executed 35 Syrians in 3 days
Militants affiliated with the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) government in Syria have carried out 35 summary executions over the past 72 hours, a UK-based war monitor says.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) released the figure on Sunday, noting that those executed were mostly former officers in the toppled government of President Bashar-al-Assad who had presented themselves at the centers set up by the country’s new ruling entity.
Earlier reports said the authorities installed by the HTS have carried out multiple arrests in Homs Province.
Members of a “criminal group” used a security sweep to commit abuses against residents while “posing as members of the security services,” the reports added.
Meanwhile, SOHR said the arrests “follow grave violations and summary executions that had cost the lives of 35 people over the past 72 hours.”
It also condemned “an unprecedented level of cruelty and violence” in Syria and compiled a list of “mass arbitrary arrests, atrocious abuse, attacks against religious symbols, mutilations of corpses, summary and brutal executions targeting civilians.”
Members of religious minorities had suffered “humiliations,” it emphasized, saying armed groups took advantage of their ties to the new HTS authorities and the chaos in Syria to settle old scores with members of the Alawite minority to which Assad belongs.
Additionally, Civil Peace Group, a civil society organization, condemned the “unjustified violations” including the killing of unarmed men in multiple Homs villages during the security sweep there.
On December 8, foreign-backed militants, led by the HTS, announced the fall of Assad’s government following a rapid two-week onslaught.
The HTS has repeatedly claimed it would respect the rights of all sects and religions in Syria.
The situation, however, remains very fragile, with a potential risk of further clashes as sectarian sentiments continue to boil over, amid the ongoing political instability and pressure on minority groups.
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