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The Alawites were Told to Lay Down Their Weapons. Then the Massacres Began.

When Assad’s regime collapsed, the Alawites laid down their weapons in good faith. What followed was mass murder, jihadist revenge, and a global silence that still hangs over Syria.

The Alawites were Told to Lay Down Their Weapons. Then the Massacres Began.

When the Assad regime fell on 8 December 2024, the Alawites — long demonized as “infidels” by Islamist factions — became immediate targets for killings, ethnic cleansing, and revenge campaigns. Drawing on conversations with Haydar, this article traces what happened to the Alawites after the regime’s collapse and why the world has remained largely silent.


This article paraphrases Haydar’s account — from a Zoom talk and WhatsApp messages — describing the fate of the Alawites from the fall of Assad’s regime to the present day.

Assad’s rule had only delayed, not erased, the Islamist desire to wipe out the “infidel” Alawite sect. When the regime fell on 8 December 2024, all hell broke loose. Killings, ethnic cleansing, and pogroms erupted immediately. After the initial wave, the violence became sporadic — but never stopped.

The Fatal Decision to Disarm

Haydar describes a moment that should haunt anyone who cares about justice. When the regime collapsed, many Alawites who had been imprisoned under both Assads were released. They returned home believing a new dawn had arrived.

They urged their communities to give up their weapons:

Assad doesn’t care about us. He fled to Russia with his Sunni wife and half‑Sunni kids. Why fight for him? Let’s show good will.

And the Alawites listened. They disarmed.

The Druze did not. They kept their weapons, kept their autonomy, and — with help from Israel — remain standing in the south.

The Alawites believed in reconciliation. They believed in building a new future. Instead, they walked straight into a trap.

Mosques issued calls for jihad against the “apostates.” Civilians volunteered. Weapons were handed out freely — the same weapons Alawites had surrendered in good faith.

The SNA, Jolani’s security forces, and civilian volunteers surged toward the coast, where most Alawites lived or fled. What followed were atrocities we Israelis recognize all too well.

On 7–8 March, the Alawite insurgents fled to Lebanon, leaving civilians behind. In two days, 8,000–10,000 unarmed Alawites were murdered. Haydar’s uncle was killed by the SNA. His sister was shot by Jolani’s forces, which included Chechens and Syrian Sunni volunteers.

The massacres did not end. They simply became less organized.

In Homs, militants on motorcycles murdered an Alawite mother and her two daughters, shouting:

Death is coming for you, hijab leavers.

Their names were Louna, Lyn, and Manal. Louna studied Computer Engineering. Lyn studied English Literature. Their father had been killed in 2011. Their mother walked them to campus because they were afraid. They were shot in the street for not wearing hijab.

These murders are now being carried out largely by Sunni Muslims freed from Assad’s prisons — including rapists, murderers, and former ISIS members. Western media celebrated the prison releases, unaware that hundreds of thousands of radical jihadists were being unleashed back into society.

They can pick up weapons at any mosque. They can kill anyone they want, as long as the victim is not Muslim.

The World Looks Away

The West celebrated the “liberation.” CNN and BBC praised the emptying of prisons. They did not understand what was being unleashed.

The Alawites are being hunted. And the world is silent.


You can read the full in‑depth Substack version of this article here.

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