The United States has expressed concern ad Asaad Hassan al-Shibanithe new Foreign Minister of the Syrian transitional administration, following continued reports of violent attacks perpetrated by militant groups in various areas of the country. The news was reported Monday by some US officials ad Axios. According to the report, American officials fear that reprisals from militants affiliated with the rebels, who overthrew the regime of Bashar Assadcan trigger further tensions. In particular, there are fears that attacks directed against minority communities and individuals linked to the previous regime could undermine stabilization efforts in a Syria already ravaged by conflict. Asaad Hassan al-Shibani is known as the main contributor to Ahmed al-Sharaade facto leader of Syria and head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), currently the most powerful armed faction in the country. In the past, HTS was part of the Al-Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, considered a terrorist organization by numerous Western governments. Subsequently, HTS dissociated itself from the Al-Nusra Front, adopting a line of opposition both to Al -Qaeda than the Islamic State (ISIS). In particular, Ahmed al-Sharaa had been critical of ISIS’s self-proclaimed caliphate of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi “defining it illegitimate”, for the control imposed in some areas of Syria.
Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, it is trying to redefine its image and that of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) as a more moderate force. He also urged Western nations to remove sanctions imposed on Syria during the Assad regime. Last week, in an unprecedented event, US diplomats met with Syria’s new leader for the first time. During the meeting, he was told that the $10 million bounty on his head had been officially lifted. Last week, the coastal city of Tartus, Syria, was the scene of violent clashes between militants linked to the Assad regime and police forces loyal to the transitional government. Syria’s new rebel-led authorities say supporters of former President Bashar Assad ambushed and killed 14 Interior Ministry soldiers in the western part of the country. The clashes, which occurred near the Mediterranean port of Tartus, also caused the transfer of 10 other soldiers, according to local authorities.
In response to the events, the recently installed Syrian authorities launched a large security operation in Tartus province, aiming to strike the remnants of forces loyal to Assad. The region of Tartusinhabited mainly by the Alawite community – an Islamic minority that represents around 10% of the Syrian population – is now experiencing growing fears. In this sense, some videos circulating online show militants linked to HTS or government security forces beating, insulting and threatening Alawite men during arrests. A US official confirmed that the State Department is aware of the recently circulated videos and is investigating the allegations. According to reports from two senior American officials on Sunday, the State Department’s special envoy, Daniel Rubinsteinmet Asaad Hassan al-Shibani in Damascus. During the meeting, Rubinstein reiterated the importance of ending violence, intimidation and retaliation against minorities, warning that such actions could exacerbate internal tensions.
He also stressed that this instability risks being exploited by forces affiliated with the Assad regime or the Islamic State. Asaad Hassan al-Shibani defended himself by saying that the responsibility for the recent violence falls mainly on other armed groups, and not on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). A US official said the new Syrian administration is working to demobilize the militias in the territory and integrate them into a unified army under state control. Meanwhile, a State Department spokesperson confirmed the existence of dialogue with HTS, but declined to divulge details of the diplomatic conversations. Syrians expect the new authorities to protect the rights of people from different backgrounds and to bring justice to those who lost loved ones under Assad’s dictatorship. To vindicate these demands, demonstrations also took place in Alawite majority areas, including the cities of Tartous and Latakia and Assad’s hometown, Qardaha. So far the news however, the numbers don’t lie; Since Assad fled the country, at least 72 men and women have been killed in incidents of sectarian violence, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based observatory that monitors the Syrian conflict. The observatory reports that the killings occurred in four religiously mixed provinces: Hama and Homs, in central Syria, and Tartus and Latakia, along Syria’s eastern coast.
The captured Alawites were subjected to violence
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