Residents commemorate victims of massacres in Syrian coastal areas

Thousands of residents from cities and villages across the coastal regions gathered at cemeteries today to mark the first anniversary of the March 7 massacres that struck their areas.

According to local accounts cited by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), more than 400 civilians were killed in the Al-Qusour neighborhood of Baniyas, many of them asleep in their homes when the attacks occurred. In the village of Al-Sanawbar in Jableh countryside, around 317 civilians died, including doctors, teachers, women, and children, with hundreds more killed across other coastal and inland towns.

Families of the victims, including children holding flowers, gathered at cemeteries, recalling the harrowing days following the attacks, during which some bodies remained in certain locations for extended periods before burial. In Baniyas and several other cities, candles were lit at the gravesites yesterday evening in symbolic ceremonies honoring those who lost their lives.

Between March 6 and 10, 2025, coastal and inland areas witnessed deadly violence following military operations announced by factions affiliated with the Syrian Interim Government and Turkey-backed groups, which targeted what they described as remnants of the former Syrian regime.

A report by the International Organization for the Monitoring of Crimes Against Humanity on May 29, 2025, documented 62 sectarian massacres in coastal towns and villages over just three days in March, resulting in 1,676 civilian deaths, including women and children.

A-H

ANHA