US intelligence agencies blame HTS administration for massacres in Syria

A report by US intelligence agencies says the forces of Syria’s new administration were responsible for the massacre of hundreds of religious minorities in the country’s northwest earlier this month.

“The fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime at the hands of opposition forces led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – a group formerly associated with al-Qaeda – has created conditions for extended instability in Syria and could contribute to a resurgence” of Daesh and other Takfiri terror groups, said the Annual Threat Assessment by the intelligence community.

The report noted that HTS-led forces, along with elements of Hurras al-Din and other Takfiri groups, “engaged in violence and extrajudicial killings in northwestern Syria in early March 2025, primarily targeting religious minorities, which resulted in the death of more than 1,000 people, including Alawite and Christian civilians.”

Published on Tuesday, the report said some Takfiri groups “refuse to merge into the HTS Ministry of Defense”, adding that Daesh “is plotting attacks” in the Arab country.

Report: Syrian regime's militants kill 72 people in one day

The Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham-led (HTS) militants of the ruling regime in Syria have killed 72 people across the conflict-ridden country over the past 24 hours, a UK-based war monitor says.

Referring to the past of Syria’s de-facto leader, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, who headed HTS militant group and its precursor group al-Nusra Front, the report said despite his “claims to be willing to work with Syria’s array of ethno-sectarian groups to develop an inclusive governance model”, these groups remain skeptical of his intentions.

Therefore, “protracted negotiations could devolve into violence”, the report said.

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militant group, along with other militants, seized control of Damascus on December 8, 2024, forcing Assad to leave the country.

Earlier this month, clashes erupted in Syria’s western coastal region when the ruling Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militants were reportedly ambushed.

During a large-scale operation to quell opposition forces, gunmen loyal to the new administration carried out a massive campaign of executions.

Militants reportedly went door to door, killing civilians, including women and children.

According to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), at least 1,500 people were killed, most of them Alawites.

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