Hama, Syria - At least ten individuals were killed during a shooting incident carried out by armed assailants in an Alawite village in Hama province late Friday night, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Saturday, February 1, 2025. The Observatory reported a massacre in the village of Arza, located in northern Hama, which is predominantly inhabited by Alawites, the sect associated with the ousted President Bashar al-Assad.
The attackers reportedly knocked on the doors of homes and opened fire on residents using silenced firearms before fleeing the scene. Among the deceased were a child and an elderly woman. The Observatory indicated that the assailants were Sunni and that the killings were motivated by sectarian tensions.
A security source in Hama, as reported by the Syrian newspaper Al-Watan, stated that public security forces are cordoning off the Arza area in search of the perpetrators responsible for the attack, which included former officers and conscripts.
Since coming to power, the new leadership has sought to reassure minority groups. However, Alawites remain fearful of violent reprisals due to their longstanding association with the Assad regime, which ruled the country with an iron fist. The new authorities have denied any involvement in violations and claim to be pursuing any transgressions, often attributing violence to 'criminal groups.' Since the fall of Assad, violence against Alawites has surged in various regions, particularly in central and western Syria. The authorities have conducted sweeping operations in several areas, claiming to search for remnants of the previous regime, which have disproportionately affected Alawite-populated regions.