US Condemns Syria Escalations as Number of Victims Reach Over 1,000

SOHR Media

A scene from Syria escalation.

The death toll from clashes between Syria’s new ruling authority and loyalists of ousted President Bashar al-Assad has risen to 1,018, including 745 civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Sunday, 9 March 2025. The US State Department condemned the crimes, while reiterating support for Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities.

The fighting, which erupted last Thursday, is the most significant challenge yet for the country’s new government. Paramilitary groups aligned with the administration have carried out retaliatory killings following ambushes by Assad loyalists that left 16 security personnel dead earlier this week, the SOHR said.

Among the dead, 125 were members of government security forces, while 148 were militants from pro-Assad armed groups, the Observatory added, though these figures could not be independently verified.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called on Sunday for an immediate halt to the killing of civilians in the coastal areas of northwestern Syria, noting that summary executions were being carried out on a sectarian basis.
 
Türk said: "Swift, transparent and impartial investigations must be conducted into all killings and other violations, with those responsible for these crimes held accountable."
 
He stressed that "the transitional authorities' declaration of their intention to respect the law must be translated into immediate measures to protect Syrians and guarantee their basic rights."

The US State Department condemned the crimes, while reiterating support for Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities.

The US State Department said in a statement: "The United States condemns the radical Islamist terrorists, including foreign jihadis, that murdered people in western Syria in recent days. The United States stands with Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities, and offers its condolences to the victims and their families.  Syria’s interim authorities must hold the perpetrators of these massacres against Syria’s minority communities accountable."



PUKMEDIA