From Thursday, March 6 to Monday, March 10, 2025, the Syrian military attacked Alawite militias. The reason was that Alawite militias had previously killed Syrian soldiers in an ambush. When the Syrian military put down the Alawite rebellion, 973 civilians were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory For Human Rights.
A priest in Damascus, Syria, with whom the Danish European Mission is in contact, says: "It is a massacre when you kill up to 1000 civilians. In a war it is legitimate for soldiers to kill other soldiers, but killing unarmed civilians is a massacre."
According to Ritzau, Syria's Interior Ministry has acknowledged that "individual violations" have taken place in connection with the fighting.
Syrian military did not target Christians
Unfortunately, information has circulated on social media that a large number of Christians have been killed and massacred in the fighting. However, this information cannot be verified.
According to AFP, seven Syrian Christians have died in the fighting. This number corresponds well with the information the Danish European Mission has received from its contacts, including a church in Damascus. It seems that the Syrian military has not targeted Christians, but that Syrian soldiers have confused Christians with Alawites.
In these battles, the roles have been reversed in Syria. Syria's former leader Bashar al-Assad was himself an Alawite, and when he was in power, the Shia community took a prominent place in the military and society in general, while the Sunni militant terrorist groups were labeled rebels and were fought against.
Under the leadership of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Sunni Islamist militants seized power in Syria in December 2024. HTS originates from Al Qaeda and thus has a fundamentalist Islamist basis.
However, HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa promised upon taking power that minorities, including Christians, would be free to live in Syria.
The pastor, with whom the Danish European Mission is in contact, says: "Syrian Christians are uncertain about the future and especially about the policies of the new Islamic regime. Ahmed al-Sharaa (Syria's new leader) regularly appears on TV and promises that minorities will be able to live in safety in Syria. But the thing is, his coalition is made up of many militias, not all of which necessarily obey him. Some Islamic militias may rebel against Ahmed al-Sharaa and attack Christians. After this weekend's massacre, we stay in our neighborhood in a two-kilometer radius where our neighbors know us and we are safe."
The pastor ends by talking about the need for prayer: "Since Syria is in chaos, all prayers are relevant," he says with a smile in his voice. "We need everything. We need the gospel, we need the love of God. Yesterday I told a neighbor that Jesus said that he who kills by sword shall die by sword. The neighbor is an Alawite and was pleased by the words."
Support Syria: Emergency aid for Christians and other displaced people
Emergency aid for 855 vulnerable people in Syria
Since the Islamic State took over Syria in 2014, Danish European Mission's intercessors and donors have ensured that vulnerable Syrian Christians and other minorities have been able to receive emergency aid.
The Islamic State has been defeated, but there is still widespread poverty in the country, partly due to the devaluation of the Syrian pound, which weakens the purchasing power of ordinary citizens.
In 2024, 855 people received food, medicine and other necessities as needed.
