BEIRUT, Lebanon, April 25, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A monitor of Syria's conflict 
said Friday that 11 civilians from the Alawite minority had been killed in 
security raids in the centre of the country over the past 24 hours.

The killings follow a wave of sectarian bloodshed last month, the worst since 
Islamist-led forces overthrew longtime president Bashar al-Assad, with 
massacres taking place largely in the Alawite coastal heartland over several 
days.

"At least 11 Alawite civilians including university students were killed in 
Homs province over the past 24 hours after raids conducted by the security 
forces" and associated groups, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 
Friday, characterising the killings as "sectarian".

The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside 
Syria, said three of those killed had "died under torture" after being 
detained by security forces.

Homs province has seen "an increase in killings and violations, amid security 
chaos and a lack of accountability", according to the Observatory.

During last month's violence, security forces and allied groups killed more 
than 1,700 civilians, mostly Alawites, the Observatory has said.

According to the United Nations human rights office, perpetrators raided 
houses, asking if residents were Alawite or Sunni Muslim before either 
killing or sparing them, with men shot dead in front of their families.

The government of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose Islamist group 
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led the offensive that toppled Assad, accused 
Assad loyalists of sparking the violence by attacking security forces.

Sharaa set up a one-month inquiry into the killings in mid-March, but the 
commission's deadline has since been extended by three months.