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<div class="gmail-inner-article-top"><h1 class="gmail-">Syria\u2019s Mukhtariyah massacre and the lie that made it possible</h1><p class="gmail-">Testimony
and footage from the village of Mukhtariyah in Latakia show how
'violent clashes' with 'regime remnants' were fabricated, giving
government forces the pretext to carry out the pre-planned massacre of
150 Alawite civilians</p><div class="gmail-another-name"><p><a href="https://thecradle.co/authors/the-cradles-syria-correspondent-113" style="color:rgb(164,4,4)">The Cradle's Syria Correspondent</a></p></div><div class="gmail-another-name" style="margin-top:16px"><p><span style="color:rgb(84,88,94)">DEC 31, 2025 - </span><font size="1"><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/syrias-mukhtariyah-massacre-and-the-lie-that-made-it-possible">https://thecradle.co/articles/syrias-mukhtariyah-massacre-and-the-lie-that-made-it-possible</a></font></p></div></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-img"><img src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles/ce83fc76-e648-11f0-ae5c-00163e02c055.jpeg" alt="" width="408" height="193" style="margin-right: 0px;"><span>Photo Credit: The Cradle</span></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-content"><div class="gmail-row"><div class="gmail-col-md-8 gmail-col-sm-7"><div class="gmail-article-content"><span class="gmail-article-body"><p><span style="background-color:transparent">At
approximately 7:30 am on 7 March 2025, Syrian government forces opened
fire on the village of Mukhtariyah from the M4 highway in the Latakia
countryside. Heavy weapons were used, including 23mm cannons, PKC
machine guns, Kalashnikov rifles, and a tank.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">No armed resistance was present in the village.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Within hours, 150 Alawite civilians \u2013 almost all men and teenage boys \u2013 were dead. Government statements issued the same day </span><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syria-imposes-curfew-latakia-tartous-after-clashes-2025-03-07/"><span style="background-color:transparent">claimed</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> the operation targeted \u201cremnants of the regime\u201d following violent clashes. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">A government security source </span><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syria-imposes-curfew-latakia-tartous-after-clashes-2025-03-07/"><span style="background-color:transparent">acknowledges</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent">
that \u201cindividual violations\u201d against residents of the village had taken
place, but said these were carried out by unorganized crowds that
headed to the coast. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">"We are working to stop these violations," the security source claims.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">However,
survivor testimony, video footage filmed by accompanying journalists,
and posts by officials present at the scene contradict that account. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">While
fighting took place between government security forces and Alawite
insurgents elsewhere on 7 March, a closer look at events in Mukhtariyah
reveals that the \u201cviolent clashes\u201d in the village were fabricated,
giving government forces a pretext to carry out the pre-planned massacre
of unarmed men and boys on the basis of their religious identity as
Alawites.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Evidence from social media shows that Hasan Abo Kasrah, an influential member of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was </span><a href="https://archive.org/details/hasan-abo-kasrah-alawite-massacres-report-march-2025"><span style="background-color:transparent">present</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> in Mukhtariyah at the time of the massacre, providing logistical support. He is also the cousin of Syrian Minister of Defense </span><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/in-syria-the-lunatics-are-running-the-asylum#google_vignette"><span style="background-color:transparent">Murhaf Abu Qasra</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent">. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">The atrocities in Mukhtariyah were part of a broader series of </span><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/alawites-you-are-pigs-how-damascus-linked-forces-massacred-dozens-in-the-coastal-village-of-sharifa"><span style="background-color:transparent">massacres</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent">
carried out by Syrian government forces in dozens of locations across
the Syrian coast between 7 and 10 March, leading to the deaths of at
least 1,600 Alawite civilians.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent"><strong>A massacre justified in advance</strong></span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">On
the evening of 6 March, units from the Syrian military\u2019s Unit 400 were
stationed at the Mukhtariyah checkpoint. According to survivors, the
troops began firing toward the village in the early evening and
continued intermittently through the night.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThey were shouting sectarian slogans,\u201d Fadi, a survivor of the massacre, tells <i>The Cradle</i>. \u201cThey said: \u2018Patience, Alawites, we have come to slaughter you.\u2019 But no one fired back. No one resisted.\u201d</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Three of his brothers were executed during the massacre. Another brother was shot in the leg but survived.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">That
night, Syrian authorities initiated a large-scale mobilization of
Ministry of Defense formations, General Security forces, and armed
civilians toward the coastal region. Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra </span><a href="https://t.me/rd3_al3dwan/6543"><span style="background-color:transparent">issued</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent">
directives calling on all military formations to move toward the coast
with \u201cstrict orders to the military to crush the remnants of the regime
and make an example of them.\u201d </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Amid the preparations, soldiers posted videos on social media saying they were coming to kill Alawites. In one </span><a href="https://t.me/Syrdoc/1508"><span style="background-color:transparent">video</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent">, a soldier says, \u201cSunnis, Sunnis, we will exterminate the Alawites.\u201d</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Authorities also</span><a href="https://t.me/rd3_al3dwan/6511"><span style="background-color:transparent"> issued</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> calls for Jihad from mosques across the country to encourage armed civilians to accompany the formal military units.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent"><strong>Mobilizing \u2018jihad\u2019, manufacturing consent</strong></span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Hasan Abu Qasra, the defense minister\u2019s cousin, helped with the mobilization. Abu Qasra, himself a high-ranking HTS member, was </span><a href="https://archive.sana.sy/?p=2187593"><span style="background-color:transparent">appointed</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> head of the state-owned SADCOP petroleum company after the government of Bashar al-Assad was toppled.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Due to the strategic value of fuel in wartime, SADCOP played a key role in supporting HTS military operations along the coast.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">As the mobilization on the evening of 6 March was underway, Abu Qasra made a thinly veiled reference to the upcoming killings. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThe dogs want to feast on meat at suhoor tonight,\u201d he </span><a href="https://archive.org/details/hasan-abo-kasrah-alawite-massacres-report-march-2025/page/n7/mode/2up"><span style="background-color:transparent">wrote</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> on Facebook, making a reference to the pre-dawn meal eaten by Muslims during Ramadan.</span></p><img style="aspect-ratio: 1600 / 838; margin-right: 25px;" src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles_media/fadf4df0-e64a-11f0-9189-00163e02c055.jpeg" width="408" height="214"><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Another </span><a href="https://t.me/Syrdoc/1570"><span style="background-color:transparent">video</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> circulated online showed a Syrian soldier discussing \u201cThe best way to eat the meat of Alawites and Shia.\u201d</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Later in the evening on 6 March, Abu Qasra again foreshadowed the killings.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThe fools gave us a golden opportunity, and we are making full use of it,\u201d he </span><a href="https://archive.org/details/hasan-abo-kasrah-alawite-massacres-report-march-2025/page/n7/mode/2up"><span style="background-color:transparent">wrote</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> in another social media post, making reference to Alawite insurgents who were </span><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/constructing-chaos-tel-avivs-hand-in-syrias-sectarian-slaughter"><span style="background-color:transparent">lured</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> into attacking General Security forces elsewhere in the coastal region, in Jableh.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Around 4:00 am the next day, on 7 March, </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/bahaa.alnayef.2/p/DG41J5_MTb5/"><span style="background-color:transparent">military convoys</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent">
carrying thousands of additional troops from the Ministry of Defense,
General Security, and armed civilians began arriving at Mukhtariyah.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">A survivor of the massacre </span><a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/09/23/are-you-alawi/identity-based-killings-during-syrias-transition"><span style="background-color:transparent">speaking</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> with Human Rights Watch (HRW) recalled seeing the first convoys arriving on the M4 Highway from Idlib<strong> </strong>and<strong> </strong>Aleppo. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThe convoys had a beginning but no end,\u201d he said.</span></p><img style="aspect-ratio: 1600 / 888; margin-right: 25px;" src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles_media/66bbec90-e64b-11f0-9637-00163e02c055.jpeg" width="408" height="226"><p><span style="background-color:transparent"><strong>Fire without cover: staging the clash</strong></span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThey sprayed the village in an unimaginably brutal and insane manner,\u201d Fadi recounts to <i>The Cradle.</i> A tank shell hit Fadi\u2019s brother\u2019s house, demolishing two of its walls.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">SADCOP head Abu Qasra confirmed his presence at the time of the attack, </span><a href="https://archive.org/details/hasan-abo-kasrah-alawite-massacres-report-march-2025/page/n7/mode/2up"><span style="background-color:transparent">posting</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> a picture of troops on the highway adjacent to Mukhtariyah with the phrase, \u201cGood morning.\u201d </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Another photo </span><a href="https://archive.org/details/hasan-abo-kasrah-alawite-massacres-report-march-2025/page/n7/mode/2up"><span style="background-color:transparent">shows</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> him on the highway, carrying a light weapon, next to a man in camouflage military clothing.</span></p><img style="aspect-ratio: 1600 / 1121; margin-right: 25px;" src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles_media/b037e57c-e64b-11f0-9c4e-00163e02c055.jpeg" width="408" height="286"><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Footage
taken by journalists accompanying government forces confirms Fadi\u2019s
claims that Abu Qasra\u2019s troops fired wildly into the village and that no
Alawite insurgents were present or fighting back.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">A video from <i>Al-Jazeera</i> channel </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkWOemyC1Xk"><span style="background-color:transparent">shows</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent">
some government troops firing into Mukhtariyah from the M4, while
others casually stand around, not even bothering to take cover behind
their vehicles.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">A separate video from <i>Al-Hadath </i>channel
shows a journalist filming a selfie to document the \u201cclashes.\u201d He does
not bother to take cover; instead, he stands completely exposed in the
middle of the road as he films. He is calm, and there is no indication
of incoming gunfire.</span></p><div class="gmail-twitter-tweet gmail-twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"></div> <p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThere
was no resistance to the factions that entered our village. They were
inventing an excuse to kill us,\u201d a survivor of the massacre tells <i>The Cradle</i>. \u201cThey filmed everything. The factions fired randomly at the village to create propaganda.\u201d</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">However, such media reports caused<i> Reuters</i> to </span><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syria-imposes-curfew-latakia-tartous-after-clashes-2025-03-07/"><span style="background-color:transparent">wrongly claim</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent">
that government forces entered Mukhtariya and killed male residents to
\u201ccrush a nascent insurgency by fighters from Bashar al-Assad's Alawite
sect.\u201d</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent"><strong>House-to-house executions</strong></span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">After
the gun and tank fire ended, large numbers of government fighters
entered the village in their vehicles from the M4 Highway. They began
going from house to house, demanding that the men from each family come
out. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">A young woman, Lena, informs <i>The Cradle</i> how her husband and his three brothers were taken from their home and murdered.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">When the attack began, they decided not to flee. "Let them search our homes,\u201d they thought. \u201cWe don\u2019t have any weapons.\u201d</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">They were gathered in the hallway of the house when government forces began banging violently on the door.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">"We want the men!\u201d the masked men yelled.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cAfter that, they took our young men with them,\u201d Lena states. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Lena
and the other women and the children were left alone in the house. They
huddled together in fear, staying away from the windows amid the
constant sound of gunfire.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cUntil sunset in the evening, we waited, praying for the return of our men and young men, but no one came back.\u201d</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent"><strong>Mustapha and his two teenage sons</strong></span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Another survivor of the massacre, Mustapha, describes to <i>The Cradle</i> how his two teenage sons were murdered.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Around 7 am, government troops came to his home, claiming they were looking for weapons. But the family had none. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThey
just took whatever gold, money, and cell phones they could lay their
hands on. They took the gold bracelet from my wife\u2019s hand,\u201d Mustapha
explains.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">The men were masked and wearing all black uniforms, suggesting they were members of the General Security.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Without
saying a word, they took Mustapha and his three sons out onto the
street. They threw them onto the street, forcing them to lie face down
on the asphalt. Four of Mustapha\u2019s neighbors were also taken from their
homes and forced to lie next to them.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">A sheikh commanding the troops arrived. He let Mustapha\u2019s youngest son, just 11 years old, go back inside the house. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Then he ordered his men to execute the seven others.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">"Ready, Fire!" the sheikh said. The soldiers sprayed them with bullets.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Multiple
bullets struck Mustapha, leaving him critically injured. Because he
lost consciousness, the executioners believed he was dead. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">After
the soldiers left, his family came to retrieve the bodies. When they
realized he was alive, they begged their neighbor, who is Sunni, to take
him to a hospital.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">The neighbor was terrified but agreed to help.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cIf
they had known he was helping me, they would have killed us both. If a
Sunni helps an Alawite, he would be killed,\u201d Mustapha explains.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cAs for my sons, I learned the truth when my brother told me, \u2018May God have mercy on them.\u2019\u201d</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent"><strong>Victims dressed in military clothing</strong></span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Mustapha tells <i>The Cradle</i>
that before the mass execution, \u201cThey wanted to force us to change into
military uniforms to make us look like regime remnants. But they were
too rushed for time.\u201d</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Days later, Rami Abdul Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR)</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2095133584261485&rdid=KKW467tOXBcYofwW"><span style="background-color:transparent"> described</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> similar efforts to hide the killings in Mukhtariyah and elsewhere,</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThere
was a removal of bodies from the streets after the military operation
ended in the cities, and it was essentially a cleanup of the crime scene
in Baniyas, Jableh, Sanoubar Jableh, the Latakia countryside, Qardaha,
and the Masyaf countryside,\u201d the rights activist said. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cPeople
were forbidden from approaching the bodies, and now they have
disappeared from the streets and been moved to an unknown location. Some
bodies have even had their clothes changed in certain areas \u2026 Some
bodies were dressed in military uniforms and vests in the Al-Shir area
of the Latakia countryside and in Al-Mukhtariyah.\u201d</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">These bodies disappeared amid </span><a href="https://t.me/Syrdoc/1845"><span style="background-color:transparent">calls</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> from HTS officials to exterminate Alawites and throw their bodies in the sea.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">This included Ows Mustafa, who was </span><a href="https://www.al-akhbar.com/culture/826945"><span style="background-color:transparent">appointed</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> by the Ministry of Media as director of the Sham FM radio station. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThrow them in the sea so the fish don\u2019t go hungry in the land of the Umayyads,\u201d he </span><a href="https://t.me/Syrdoc/1601"><span style="background-color:transparent">posted</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> on WhatsApp on 8 March. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">A month later, bodies believed to be victims of the Syrian coastal massacres </span><a href="https://t.me/Syrdoc/3062"><span style="background-color:transparent">washed up</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> on Lebanese shores. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent"><strong>The warehouse</strong></span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">The
organized nature of the massacre was illustrated by the way many of the
victims were systematically gathered into large groups before their
mass execution. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic </span><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session59/a-hrc-59-crp4-en.pdf"><span style="background-color:transparent">documented</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> the killing of at least 27 men who were all executed together in an open-sided storage warehouse in Mukhtariya.</span></p><img style="aspect-ratio: 1564 / 1230; margin-right: 25px;" src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles_media/a7d58180-e64d-11f0-95aa-00163e02c055.jpeg" width="408" height="321"><p><span style="background-color:transparent">The UN Commission confirmed that at least 34 others were killed in a group close to the main square of the village. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Another
32 men and boys were reportedly killed inside homes, and in the street,
the UN Commission added, including older men, twin boys aged
approximately 13, the mukhtar (mayor) of the village, and a disabled
man.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Residents of Mukhtariyah tell <i>The Cradle</i>
that when troops began firing on the village the night before, the
mukhtar, Zakaria Muhammad Shaaban, contacted the soldiers to say there
were no weapons in the village. He offered to stay overnight with them
at the checkpoint to ensure no one from the village would attack it. But
they refused.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">When
the soldiers entered the village the next morning, the mukhtar went out
to greet them. \u201cWelcome, young men,\u201d he said, offering them water to
drink.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">But they immediately shot him in the head, blowing a hole in his brain. They also executed his brother.</span></p><img style="aspect-ratio: 1398 / 1137; margin-right: 25px;" src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles_media/6b8d4e0a-e64e-11f0-80da-00163e02c055.jpeg" width="408" height="332"><p><span style="background-color:transparent"><strong>Barking like dogs</strong></span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent"><i>The Cradle</i> spoke with one young man, a university student named Hamza, who survived the massacre:</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cWhen
the factions entered the village, they shot at the door, came in, and
dragged us all out. They took our phones, ordered us to kneel, and began
beating us with their rifle butts.\u201d </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThen they forced us to crawl in the street. They started climbing on our backs, cursing us and our religion.\u201d </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Hamza
witnessed one man, a former soldier who had turned in his weapon and
completed the settlement process with the new authorities, being beaten
to death. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cOne
of the men had a military settlement card, so they put him in a barrel,
and one of them kept hitting him with the butt of his rifle until he
died in the barrel.\u201d</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThough
I could barely move from the beatings, I kept crawling. Then I heard
gunfire. Someone came to shoot me in the head, but the bullet grazed my
head and didn't kill me. I was bleeding, so they thought I was dead.\u201d</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">However,
Hamza\u2019s older brother, who was also a university student, and his
younger brother, a high school student, were killed along with their
father.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">A video
circulated on social media showing soldiers beating two dozen men as
they crawl to the place of their execution in the manner Hamza
described.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Another </span><a href="https://t.me/Syrdoc/1519"><span style="background-color:transparent">video</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent">
that circulated online shows three young Alawite men crawling on a dirt
path as government troops walk alongside them. Without notice, the
troops suddenly open fire with Kalashnikov rifles, killing all three.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">In yet another </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/reel/2878443919022353"><span style="background-color:transparent">video</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent">,
a soldier is seen viciously beating the men with a long stick as they
crawl past bloodied corpses strewn in the street. Other soldiers are
standing around laughing, including one who kicks a crawling man. The
soldier then looks at the camera and raises his finger to boast about
the killings. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">According
to pro-government Telegram pages, the soldier\u2019s name is Ammar Abdu
al-Al. These pages claimed he was arrested and imprisoned for his role
in the killings. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">However, Alawite activist Wahid Yazbek </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/reel/2878443919022353"><span style="background-color:transparent">confirmed</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent">
that Abdu al-Al is living freely. He was seen in November at the office
of Mulhim al-Masri, who owns a car dealership in the Zahraa
neighborhood in Homs.</span></p><img style="aspect-ratio: 837 / 1089; margin-right: 0px;" src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles_media/a79b3cc8-e652-11f0-8e09-00163e02c055.jpeg" width="314" height="408"><p><span style="background-color:transparent"><strong>Um Khadr\u2019s testimony </strong></span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">An Alawite woman, Um Khadr, describes to <i>The Cradle</i> how her four sons were taken from her home and executed in the street.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">She tried to hide her youngest son among the girls, but they found him and took him too.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Um Khadr begged them not to take them. \u201cMy sons haven't done anything. What did they do wrong?" </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">"If they have nothing against them, they will return,\u201d the government troops responded.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThey ordered them to howl like dogs, but the young men disobeyed and refused. So they immediately shot them,\u201d Um Khadr says. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">After they left, she and the other women went outside to search for her sons. She found them among a heap of corpses.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">A </span><a href="https://t.me/Syrdoc/1518"><span style="background-color:transparent">video</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent">
from Mukhtariyah circulated online showing another woman desperately
searching for her sons. Other women sit among the bodies, weeping.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">The
widows were not allowed to move the bodies of their husbands and sons
for three days. They were then placed in the back of trucks and taken to
the place of burial on the outskirts of the village.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cWe
only had two hours for the burial. They dug the graves with bulldozers
and excavators, and they buried them in a mass grave,\u201d Um Khadr says.</span></p><img style="aspect-ratio: 1875 / 1055; margin-right: 25px;" src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles_media/2d377af4-e653-11f0-b729-00163e02c055.jpeg" width="408" height="230"><p><span style="background-color:transparent"><strong>Looting, arson, and the after-wave</strong></span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">After
the killing ended, the first Ministry of Defense-affiliated armed
faction left, but was replaced by others who looted and burned the
village.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cOne faction kills, another steals, another burns,\u201d Um Khadr reveals.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Lena, whose husband was murdered, tells <i>The Cradle</i>
that images of burned houses and land from Mukhtariyah were then shown
in the media as a pretext to claim that there had been violent clashes
between the government forces and \u201cregime remnants.\u201d</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">In one such media report seen by <i>The Cradle,</i> a pro-government journalist speaks from the M4 while showing pictures of a burning house.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cWe
see the ongoing clashes in the neighborhoods of Mukhtariyah in Latakia,
the clashes and arrest raids on the part of the Ministry of Defense and
the General Security on the bases and positions of the deposed regime
remnants belonging to Iran,\u201d he claims.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">By this time, the massacre of unarmed Alawite men was underway.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">The
journalist then turns to a commander from the Ministry of Defense to
ask if his men were facing \u201ca lot\u201d of resistance from the regime
remnants.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">The
commander at first says, \u201cThere is a little resistance.\u201d But quickly
realizing the answer he is supposed to give, he states in the very next
sentence, \u201cThere is resistance, yes. There is strong resistance.\u201d</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">The journalist then turns to the village, pointing to the burning home as evidence that clashes are taking place.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent"><strong>Who did they kill and why?</strong></span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Within two hours on the morning of 7 March, government forces killed 149 men and boys, and one woman, in Mukhtariyah.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">They
made no effort to determine if those they executed were \u201cregime
remnants,\u201d as was claimed. Instead, they killed any Alawite men and
teenage boys they found.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThey had orders to kill only the men,\u201d Um Khadr states.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">One
woman was killed, but only because she recognized one of the killers.
He had come to Mukhtariyah the day before, selling glassware. When he
realized that she recognized him, he shot her immediately.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Residents inform <i>The Cradle</i>
that most of the soldiers were from Deir Ezzor, Aleppo, and Idlib. They
knew this from their accents. But they also recognized many who were
armed civilians from nearby Sunni towns such as Samandil and Al-Haffah.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">When
Um Khadr later confronted a soldier, asking why he had killed her sons,
he answered that killing Alawites was in accordance with the religious
rulings of the medieval religious scholar, </span><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/the-incoming-islamic-state-of-syria"><span style="background-color:transparent">Ibn Taymiyyah</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent">.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">One
man from the village was spared because the gunmen thought he was
Sunni. When they came to his home, they asked him, \u201cAre you Alawite?"</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThere is only the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad,\u201d he answered, to make them think he was Sunni.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThey
killed a useful, educated generation. The majority of those they killed
knew nothing about Bashar al-Assad, his army, or the war,\u201d one resident
from Mukhtariyah tells <i>The Cradle.</i></span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cWhy
did they kill a 26-year-old doctor? A 25-year-old engineer? Why did
they kill an 85-year-old man? A 13-year-old boy?\u201d he asks.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent"><strong>Where is justice?</strong></span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">While
the individual soldiers who carried out the massacre have not been
brought to justice, neither have those who gave the orders to carry it
out. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">On 10 March, Syrian Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Hussein Abdul Ghani </span><a href="https://archive.sana.sy/?p=2196861"><span style="background-color:transparent">announced</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> the end of the so-called military operation against \u201cremnants of the regime,\u201d mentioning Mukhtariyah by name.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Abdul
Ghani claimed his forces had been successful in \u201cachieving their
goals,\u201d even though by this time, many details of the massacre in
Mukhtariyah were known.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Hasan Abu Qasra, the SADCOP head and cousin of Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra, also expressed no remorse.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">On 12 March, he </span><a href="https://archive.org/details/hasan-abo-kasrah-alawite-massacres-report-march-2025/page/n7/mode/2up"><span style="background-color:transparent">made</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent"> a social media post glorifying the orgy of killing he had helped organize in Mukhtariyah.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:transparent">\u201cThis
is us joking \u2013 imagine when we're serious. Ask the remnants [regime
loyalists] about us,\u201d he wrote alongside a video of armed men in a
military vehicle speeding toward the coast.</span></p><img style="aspect-ratio: 1506 / 1290; margin-right: 25px;" src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles_media/93358cec-e653-11f0-b95b-00163e02c055.jpeg" width="408" height="349"><p><span style="background-color:transparent">A
few days later, Abu Qasra took to social media again to mock the widows
of the men his troops had slaughtered. \u201c130 mm cannons are turning the
women of the Rawafid into widows \u2014 the mut'ah prostitutes,\u201d he </span><a href="https://archive.org/details/hasan-abo-kasrah-alawite-massacres-report-march-2025/page/n7/mode/2up"><span style="background-color:transparent">wrote</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent">.</span></p><img style="aspect-ratio: 1573 / 932; margin-right: 25px;" src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles_media/ec2fd546-e653-11f0-b061-00163e02c055.jpeg" width="408" height="242"><p><span style="background-color:transparent">Abu
Kasrah\u2019s boast, the fabricated \u201cclashes\u201d with \u201cregime remnants, and the
well-organized mass slaughter of Mukhtariyah\u2019s civilian men all suggest
the massacre was pre-planned in Damascus. Meanwhile, the wives,
mothers, and daughters of the martyrs still await justice.</span></p><img style="aspect-ratio: 1380 / 987; margin-right: 25px;" src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles_media/78c5ac74-e654-11f0-b98f-00163e02c055.jpeg" width="408" height="292"><img style="aspect-ratio: 1386 / 1080; margin-right: 25px;" src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles_media/a18b6342-e659-11f0-92af-00163e02c055.jpeg" width="408" height="318"></span></div><a href="https://www.patreon.com/c/thecradlemedia/membership" target="_blank"></a></div></div></div><br></div>