Gunmen killed 10 people in what has been described as a “massacre” in the village of Arzah, located in Syria’s northern Hama countryside, on Friday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The attack, which targeted the Alawite community, a minority sect linked to ousted President Bashar al-Assad, is being viewed as part of the ongoing sectarian violence that has intensified since Assad’s overthrow in December.
The gunmen, identified by the SOHR as Sunni Muslims, reportedly used handguns equipped with silencers to carry out the attack. They approached the village under the guise of conducting weapons inspections, knocking on doors and then opening fire on the residents. Among the victims were an elderly woman and a child, alongside several former officers and soldiers. The assailants fled the scene after the killings, leaving behind a trail of devastation.
A resident who witnessed the horrific events described how the gunmen forcibly removed men from their homes, made them kneel, and executed them in cold blood. The bodies were later taken to Hama National Hospital before being buried, the source added, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
The SOHR’s Rami Abdel Rahman stated that the attack bore all the hallmarks of a sectarian killing, and fears have grown within the Alawite community about further reprisals. Since Assad’s fall, the Alawite minority, which has long been associated with the Assad regime, has been subjected to increasing violence. The Observatory has documented at least 162 Alawite deaths linked to sectarian violence since December.
Security forces have reportedly surrounded the Arzah area in an effort to apprehend those responsible for the killings. Syrian newspaper Al-Watan cited a security source who confirmed the manhunt but also noted the growing tension in the region.
This massacre follows the arrest of Atif Najib, a cousin of Bashar al-Assad, who has been accused of orchestrating a brutal crackdown in Daraa, where the Syrian uprising began in 2011. The uprising, which was violently suppressed by Assad’s forces, quickly evolved into a brutal civil war that has claimed the lives of over half a million people, deepening divisions in the country.
As Syria grapples with its post-Assad reality, sectarian violence remains a prominent and deadly challenge. With the Alawite community increasingly targeted, many fear that these massacres are just the beginning of a wider cycle of revenge and retribution.
