7 Alawites unaccounted for in Damascus amid rising tensions

7 Alawites unaccounted for in Damascus amid rising tensions
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Seven Alawite Syrians have gone missing in Damascus, raising concerns amid growing tensions in the capital, Shafaq News reported. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the individuals were last seen returning from work at a restaurant in Qasioun Mall, Barzeh district. Contact was lost around 3 a.m. when their transport vehicle entered Ash al-Warwar, an Alawite neighborhood. Later that morning, the vehicle was found abandoned near the Police Hospital along the international highway with no sign of the missing men.

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Syria’s Alawite community has faced increased violence, political marginalization, and economic hardship. Once a key support base of the Assad government, Alawites have become vulnerable to retaliatory attacks. Reports indicate that over 1,383 Alawite civilians have been killed in such violence, with thousands fleeing traditional areas like Latakia and Tartus. Alawite religious sites have also been targeted, including the burning of the shrine of al-Khasibi in Aleppo, leading to protests in Alawite-majority regions.