The information space around #Syria has collapsed into a toxic pot of vitriol, wild misinformation and... some facts.
Large numbers of people are tragically dead, but the circumstances & context are far more complex than is being widely conveyed. A 🧵:
Large numbers of people are tragically dead, but the circumstances & context are far more complex than is being widely conveyed. A 🧵:
In the lead-up to Thursday night, pro-#Assad gunmen had launched 46 attacks on interim gov't forces in 6/14 of #Syria's governorates -- but what happened Thursday night was a whole other level.
3 days later, more than 400 gov't forces are confirmed as dead.
3 days later, more than 400 gov't forces are confirmed as dead.
Almost all of those 400 gov't forces were locally-deployed -- many killed by summary execution, burned to death & buried alive.
In the 1st night of fighting, pro-#Assad gunmen also launched attacks on rival villages -- some Sunni, others Alawite.
In the 1st night of fighting, pro-#Assad gunmen also launched attacks on rival villages -- some Sunni, others Alawite.
Some villages in #Latakia refused to "join" the pro-#Assad "coup" (as it's being called locally), which brought attacks & some massacres.
That set in motion a spiral of retaliatory violence & killing -- and spurred on outside fighters aligned with the gov't to seek revenge.
That set in motion a spiral of retaliatory violence & killing -- and spurred on outside fighters aligned with the gov't to seek revenge.
Reliable info on perpetrators is nigh-on impossible to get -- but evidence points to civilian killings primarily by SNA-aligned units, small foreign fighter factions & yes, pro-#Assad gunmen too.
Round numbers from the likes of SOHR? Treat with BIG grain of salt.
Round numbers from the likes of SOHR? Treat with BIG grain of salt.
There's zero evidence Christians have been targeted by any side in #Latakia -- but 3 Christian civilians are 100% confirmed as dead.
Many reports of (a) whole families & (b) women being killed have turned out to be false -- with them coming out denying their own deaths.
Many reports of (a) whole families & (b) women being killed have turned out to be false -- with them coming out denying their own deaths.
As the interim gov't continues a hugely complex DDR process, command & control over peripheral armed factions is limited -- and when 1,000s of armed men outside of any faction went to #Latakia to fight/kill, that was almost impossible to control for ~36hrs.
On the pro-#Assad side, most of the known leaders are former commanders from the [#Iran-aligned] 4th Division. Some have an **infamous** history of crimes -- from mass executions, burning civilians, and coordinating months-long starvation sieges.
Ironically, much of the sentiment & rhetoric on recent events in #Syria is far more aggressive & vitriolic from people *outside* #Syria than those actually in the country.
The thirst for peace, calm & reconciliation runs deep. People want justice, but not more war.
The thirst for peace, calm & reconciliation runs deep. People want justice, but not more war.
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