The warning issued by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard about a potential terrorist takeover in Syria seems to be unfolding. Recent reports suggest that terror groups with ties to al Qaeda, supporting Syria’s new interim president who was previously affiliated with al Qaeda, are allegedly carrying out massacres of Alawites and the remaining Christian population in the country.
According to Rami Abdulrahman from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Syrian security forces and their allies have reportedly killed over 340 civilians in the past 48 hours. The majority of the victims belonged to the Alawite minority.
During her confirmation hearing at the Senate, Gabbard emphasized her stance by stating, “I do not support Assad or any dictator. My opposition lies with al-Qaeda. I am concerned about our leaders supporting Islamist extremists and referring to them as ‘rebels,’ just as Jake Sullivan informed Hillary Clinton that ‘al Qaeda is on our side in Syria.’ Currently, al-Qaeda’s faction HTS governs Syria, led by an Islamist Jihadist who celebrated on 9/11 and has been involved in the deaths of numerous American soldiers.”
An Alawite woman from the region of Al-Ghab plain, where there is a majority Alawite population, told Fox News Digital that the forces said, “Alawites are pigs, and they have to execute all of them and the small children before the elderly people.”Â
Moussa al-Omar, a Syrian media figure close to the country’s new leadership, told Reuters that tens of thousands of fighters in Syria’s newly constituted security forces had been deployed to the coast in the operation and that order had been largely restored as of Friday night.
He said the crackdown was “a message to anyone in the south or east of Syria that the state . . . is capable of a military resolution at any time, even as it seeks peaceful solutions.”
Alawite activists say their community has been subjected to violence and attacks, particularly in rural Homs and Latakia, since Assad was overthrown in December after decades of repressive family rule and civil war.
Saudi Arabia condemned “crimes being undertaken by outlaw groups” in Syria and their targeting of security forces.
Deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad seen arriving in Jeddah, to attend the Arab League summit the following day in Saudi Arabia, May 18, 2023. Assad is in now living in exile in Russia. SANA/Handout via Reuters
Turkey, a close ally of Syria’s new government, also stated its support for Damascus, saying, “The tension in and around Latakia, as well as the targeting of security forces, could undermine the efforts to lead Syria into the future in unity and solidarity.”
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz blasted Syria’s Islamist rulers on Friday for their campaign to smash a nascent insurgency by fighters from ousted President Assad’s Alawite group.
“[Abu Mohammed] al-Julani switched his robe for a suit and presented a moderate face,” Katz said in a statement on X, using the nom de guerre of Ahmed al-Sharaa. “Now he’s taken off the mask and exposed his true face: A jihadist terrorist of the al-Qaeda school who is committing horrifying acts against a civilian population.”
Katz added, “Israel will defend itself against any threat from Syria. We will remain in the security zones and Mount Hermon and protect the communities of the Golan and Galilee. We will ensure that southern Syria remains demilitarized and free of threats, and we will protect the local Druze population—anyone who harms them will face our response.”
The Syrian Alawite source in Europe told Fox News Digital that the Alawites want Israel to protect them like Israel’s offer of aid to the Syrian Druze population, who are also being targeted by the Islamist government in Damascus.
Reuters contributed to this report.
