People demonstrate at Marjeh Square in Damascus, Syria, March 9, 2025. to protest the killing of civilians and security forces linked to Syria's new rulers, following clashes between the forces loyal to the new administration and fighters from Bashar Assad's Alawite sect. Photo: OSV News/Khalil Ashawi, Reuters. Syria’s top Christian leaders have condemned the recent killing and wounding of hundreds of Alawites, many civilians, by security forces and Islamist gunmen linked to the country’s new rulers.
The pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) issued an urgent appeal for prayers, warning of escalating violence that has targeted innocent civilians, including women and children.
A joint statement from Syria’s senior Christian figures—Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Youssef Absi, Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X, and Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II—denounced the deadly attacks that began March 6. They called for an immediate end to the violence and urged reconciliation among Syrians.
The attacks have been concentrated in Tartus, Banias, Jabla, and Latakia, the Alawite heartland and former stronghold of the Assad regime, which ruled for 53 years until President Bashar Assad was overthrown last year. Some observers describe this as the worst violence in Syria’s 14-year civil war.
Syria’s interim government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, claims it is fighting an insurgency from Assad loyalists. The church leaders condemned all acts threatening civil peace, stressing the need for a political system based on equal citizenship and inclusion.
According to ACN sources in Latakia, March 7 was described as “a very black and painful day.” Reports indicate that more than 600 civilians, including university doctors, pharmacists, women, and children, were killed. Among them were Christians, including a father and son from an evangelical church in Latakia and a priest’s father in Banias. Homes and vehicles were looted, and terrified families sought refuge with Sunni friends.
Lauren Homer, of the International Religious Freedom Forum, linked the violence to a failed Alawite uprising against the HTS-led government. Retaliatory killings have since surged. While some claim the violence is political rather than religious, International Religious Freedom Secretariat President Nadine Maenza noted that political and religious tensions are deeply intertwined.
Franciscan Fr Bahjat Karakach of Aleppo warned Syria is on the brink of another civil war. He stressed the need for true inclusivity in the new government to ensure stability.
With Alawites making up 10% of Syria’s population, their persecution remains a grave concern, as radical Sunni Islamists view them as apostates. The al-Sharaa government has vowed to bring those responsible for the violence to justice.