Sharaa blamed pro-Assad groups backed by foreigners for triggering the bloodshed but acknowledged that revenge killings had followed.

Foreign minister says Israel's warnings over new Islamist rulers were accurate after over 1,000 killed in Alawite enclave; Sharaa dismisses Israel's accusations as 'nonsense'

Fighting between security forces and pro-Assad militants is worst in years; death toll, mostly of Alawites, considered among highest in Syria since 2013 chemical weapon attack

Syria’s leader vows to hunt those behind clashes with Assad loyalists and his Islamist government:: March 9, 2025:: Damascus, Syria:: Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syrian Interim President"We find ourselves facing a new danger represented by the attempts of the remnants of the former regime and the external parties behind them to create a new sedition and drag our country into a civil war,

A Syrian security source said the pace of fighting had slowed around Latakia, Jabla and Baniyas, while forces searched surrounding mountainous areas where an estimated 5,000 pro-Assad insurgents were hiding.

Syria's fragile transition from decades of Assad family brutal rule has been greatly shaken with an outburst of sectarian retribution and killings, posing a serious challenge to the new leadership led by Ahmad Sharaa.

Syria's interim President Ahmed Sharaa said mass killings of members of ousted President Bashar al-Assad's minority sect were a threat to his mission to unite the country and promised to punish those responsible,