A powder barrel that has now exploded

The killing of civilians from the Alawite minority can be traced to a “bitter and bloody legacy” from the war in Syria.

But also to a security force that is not completely controlled by the government, says the Middle Eastern expert Aron Lund.

Ever since Bashar al-Assad and his regime were overthrown in December, it has been tense in the country’s coastal areas, where the Alawite minority is mainly found. The dictator himself belonged to the minority, as well as many from his security forces.

– It went surprisingly well in the beginning, many thought it would be massacre at once. But it has been relatively quiet, but very tense and many have lost the job, says Aron Lund, Middle East analyst at the Swedish Defense Research Institute.

Since Al-Assad was overthrown, the new security forces, which consist of former rebel groups, have taken place in the villages and, among other things, arrested former generals. Violence has erupted then too – but not on the scale that is happening now, according to Lund.

“Went berry”

Under the surface, religious tensions have bubbled, combined with “the bitter and bloody heritage” from the war, while there are weapons everywhere.

– Many people have known that this is a powder barrel that can explode at any time. And now it has exploded.

It was on Thursday that it all escalated, when security forces in the coastal city of Jableh were killed in an ambush of what is said to be a supporter of Al-Assad.

– It became an incredible backlash. The safety forces went berries. But above all, the second previous rebel groups, which are formally included in the security forces, came, but in practice are only independent ex-rebel groups.

Not the government’s order

Over 1,000 people have been killed and the majority are civilians, according to British -based Syrian Human Rights Observatory (SOHR). The figures should not be seen as reliable as no one has been able to get there and count, says Aron Lund.

– It will surely be clear. But it is obvious that very serious abuses have been committed on a lot of civilians, with battles on top of it.

According to Lund, the violence against civilians is probably nothing that has happened on orders from the government. In practice, there is no functioning, united military.

The violence that has erupted should instead be seen in the light of the long -standing bloody civil war, says Lund. The weak transitional government wants to try to establish control and gain international recognition – at the same time there are supporters who would rather see revenge for all years of war.

– In that situation, I think this is very important. Especially the Western countries, the United States and Europe, have sanctions that the new government must be removed to succeed. But they have been clear that one of the conditions is that they treat minorities well.