The sectarian violence that erupted in western Syria spread to the capital earlier this month, where masked assailants raided homes in the predominantly Alawite neighborhood of al-Qadam, detaining more than two dozen unarmed men, according to witnesses who spoke to Reuters.
The attacks took place close to midnight on March 6, shortly after an Alawite insurgency loyal to the ousted leader, Bashar Assad, began in the coastal regions, nearly 200 miles northwest of Damascus. The insurgency triggered a wave of retaliatory violence that left hundreds of Alawites dead.
Residents report that those abducted in al-Qadam included a retired teacher, an engineering student and a mechanic, all members of the Alawite minority.
“They took him purely because he’s Alawite,” said a local whose relative, telecoms engineer Ihsan Zeidan, was seized by masked men in the early hours of March 7. At least eight of the detained men were later confirmed dead, with the fate of the others still unknown.
While Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa—formerly known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani—dispatched forces to contain the violence along the coast, he admitted some fighters acted independently of the defense ministry. Seeking to prevent further escalation, his government stressed that the bloodshed was geographically limited and announced a fact-finding committee to investigate “the events on the coast.”
However, witness accounts indicate that sectarian tensions have reached the heart of Damascus, mere kilometers from the presidential palace. Reports of raids, kidnappings and killings in al-Qadam have not been previously documented.
At least 25 men were taken from their homes, according to residents. Witnesses say some of the armed men identified themselves as members of the General Security Service, a newly formed Syrian agency composed of former rebels.
A spokesperson for the interior ministry, which oversees the GSS, denied that Alawites were specifically targeted. “The security forces are confiscating weapons from all sects,” the spokesperson said, but declined to answer further questions about why unarmed civilians were detained.
All witnesses who spoke to Reuters requested anonymity, fearing reprisals. Relatives and neighbors confirmed the deaths of some detainees through photographs or by discovering bodies nearby.
Despite the moderate face al-Sharaa attempts to show to the Western world, the fate of the remaining captives remains uncertain, fueling fears that the country’s deep-rooted sectarian divisions could plunge Syria into further turmoil.