
After the Alawite massacres in Syria, the challenge of gathering testimonies
To see them, it is necessary to cross the shaded Cheikh Hilal cemetery, pass a small mausoleum and walk among the tombstones toward the edge of a railway line where tanker wagons rust. There, beneath concrete slabs, lie 275 bodies, the vast majority unidentified. These are just some of the victims of the massacre of the Alawite community in the Syrian city of Baniyas and its surroundings, carried out between March 6 and 9 by Islamist factions linked to the Ministry of Defense, foreign jihadists and local armed men. The precise death toll remains unknown. The bloodshed occurred in the aftermath of attacks on government checkpoints by armed supporters of the former regime.
Occasionally, a small sign mentions the name and surname of a victim. While watching the security services bury the bodies, the young gravedigger at the cemetery recognized some of the dead. The others remained nameless and no one was allowed to identify them, creating an additional torment for Suzane Khalil, who mourned her husband and two sons, perhaps buried in the cemetery without her knowing for sure. Eyes darkened with grief, this education official welcomed us to her modest apartment in the Al-Qusour district.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


France 24
5 hours ago
- France 24
🌟The Bright Side: Ancient tomb complex discovered as Syria clears war rubble
A contractor digging into the earth where the rubble of a destroyed house had been cleared away in northern Syria stumbled across a surprise: the remains of an underground Byzantine tomb complex believed to be more than 1,500 years old. The discovery emerged last month in the town of Maarat al-Numan in Idlib province, which is strategically located on the route between the cities of Aleppo and Damascus. The community became a touchpoint in the nearly 14-year Syrian civil war that ended with the fall of former president Bashar Al-Assad in a lightning rebel offensive in December. Assad's forces seized the area back from opposition control in 2020. Houses were looted and demolished. Aerial images of the area show many houses still standing but without roofs. Now residents are beginning to return and rebuild. In the course of a reconstruction project, stone openings were uncovered indicating the presence of ancient graves. Residents notified the directorate of antiquities, which dispatched a specialised team to inspect and secure the site. Aboveground, it's a residential neighborhood with rows of cinder-block buildings, many of them damaged in the war. Next to one of those buildings, a pit leads down to the openings of two burial chambers, each containing six stone tombs. The sign of the cross is etched into the top of one stone column. 'Based on the presence of the cross and the pottery and glass pieces that were found, this tomb dates back to the Byzantine era,' said Hassan al-Ismail, director of antiquities in Idlib. He noted that the discovery adds to an already rich collection of archeological sites in the area. Idlib "has a third of the monuments of Syria, containing 800 archaeological sites in addition to an ancient city,' al-Ismail said.


France 24
3 days ago
- France 24
Shootings at Gaza aid distribution sites: Situation an ‘impasse', ‘anarchy'
At least dozens of Palestinians were killed near aid distribution sites in Gaza since the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operating in the enclave late last month. 'We don't know who's exactly doing the shooting right now, it could be Hamas, it could be one of these Islamist militias we've recently found out Israel is backing with arms, or it could be the Israeli army', FRANCE 24's Noga Tarnopolsky said, adding that the situation is 'some sort of impasse and anarchy, and people who need the aid are just not getting it'.


France 24
4 days ago
- France 24
'This desire to eliminate Hamas in Gaza will only build a generation of jihadists against Israel'
17:16 06/06/2025 Arms blockade symbolic: 'US will have to take action to pressure Israel to change behaviour in Gaza' Middle East 06/06/2025 French dock workers block shipment of military material for Israel France 06/06/2025 Aid vessel heading to Gaza rescues four Libyan migrants in Mediterranean Sea Middle East 06/06/2025 Israeli PM Netanyahu confirms arming Gaza militia against Hamas Middle East 06/06/2025 Israel targets Hezbollah's drone production in southern Beirut Middle East 05/06/2025 'We protect our society as a whole' when our leaders encourage us to unite against violent rhetoric Americas 04/06/2025 There is no accountability for atrocities against Syrian minorities, analyst says Middle East 04/06/2025 US- and Israeli-backed group pauses food delivery in Gaza after deadly shootings Middle East 04/06/2025 Is Gaza Humanitarian Foundation trying to 'drive entire population of Gaza to Rafa border'? Middle East