Who is responsible for massacres of Alawites in Syria?

As most of you probably know, since the overthrow of Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad, things in the country are not doing so well. First, the unprovoked Israeli invasion of southern Syria started on 8 December by Prime Minister Netanyahu. Now, there is an Assadist/Baathist insurgency happening right now in western Syria, mostly in Alawite majority regions, like Tartus and Latakia Governorates which already caused over 2000 people to die.

The new Syrian government responded to the insurgency by sending battalions of soldiers and allied militias from Idlib and other cities to Tartus Governrate, where most of Assad loyalist activity take place. Lots of clashes happened betwen them and Assad loyalists, killing over 300 Syrian security forces and 250 Assad loyalist insurgents.

The government's security forces were more prone to commiting war crimes against the insurgents and Alawite civilians due to their high casulates. For example, on 14 January 2025, SOHR (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights) reported that Alawite civilians of the village of Tasnin, Homs were fired upon by gunmen who identified themselves as Military Operations Command, a rebel alliance consisting of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (organization which rules Syria), National Front for Liberation (a smaller rebel alliance loyal to Syrian Intermin Government) and Army of Glory (ex-Al-qaeda affiliated islamist rebel group). The gunmen fired at random people, killing about 10 civilians. They also launched a widespread arrest operation against the village from early morning to the afternoon of 16 January. Some people resisted their arrest attempts, causing gunmen to open fire at them, killing 6 more people. The gunmen also set 6 civilian houses on fire for no apparent reason and fired rocket-propelled launchers at parked cars. 

On March 5, 2025, the Assad loyalist activity in the western regions of Syria significantly intensified. On that day, there were several fires at government weapon storages in forested areas of Latakia, Syrian transitional government blamed seventeen insurgents for this attack and launched a manhunt to find them, dead or alive. On March 6, loyalist insurgents launched a series of coordinated attacks against the security forces in the cities of Jableh, Banyas and the surrounding areas. Insurgents overran several government positions and killed 50 syrian security forces. To stop the rebellion, the government sent reinforcements to western regions of Syria, tens on thousands of Turkish-affiliated Syrian National Army's islamist groups, like Oleppo Hamza Division (Hamzat) or Sultan Suleiman Shah brigades (Amshat) entered western Syria, with many local civilians celebrating their presence. Several mosques broadcasted calls to Jihad, some even called for "Alawite's blood to be spilled", revealing their genocidal intentions. 

From this day onward, massacres against innocent Alawite civilians started happening. On March 7, armed groups affiliated with Military Operations Command entered Alawite neighborhoods in Baniyas, a multi-faith coastal town in Tartus Governorate. Some fighters of the group were called "foreign", they were described of being Turkmen and Chehen origin. Multiple witnesses described them systematically killing random Alawite civilians, with men being executed on rooftops and on the streets. SOHR reported 60 people killed, including 10 woman and 5 children. From march March 6 to March 15, over 1700 civilians were killed, according to head of the local Alawite council. Some of you may ask, who is responsible for this tragedy? The anwser is that Suleiman Shah Brigade and Hamza Division were mostly responsible for massacres. 

But who are they? Lets get to the botton of this!

Hamza Division of Aleppo

Hamza Division, commonly known as "Hamzat", is a syrian rebel group affiliated with Syrian National Army that is fully trained and armed by Turkey. It was created on December 18, 2013 during the start of Syrian civil war. It was initially commanded by Yasser Abu al-Sheikh untill he was killed by ISIS sniper somewhere on April 2016. He was replaced by Sayf Balud, a former fighter of ISIS from 2013 to 2014, he is the commander of the group to this day. Hamza Division consists of several rebel groups which were merged into it: Northern Thunder Brigade, Mare' Resistance Brigade, Special Operations Brigade, National Struggle Brigade, Dhi Qar Brigade, Jaysh Yusuf Alhitlariu Brigade, and Kurdish Falcons Brigade. As of 2024, the group consists of 900 men of Kurdish origin and 200 men of Arab origin. It has been accused by many people of commiting atrocities against Alawite civilians. The group commited summary executions, arson, and forced displacements in the city of Banias, Tartus. Some claim that Hamza division is responsible for killing over 600 civilians since March 6. It is considired one of the main perpetrators behind Alawite masscares. 

Sultan Suleiman Shah Division 

Sultan Suleiman Shah Division, referred by some as "Amshat", is a Turkish sponsored rebel group created in late 2016. It is lead by Mohammed al-Jassem, a war criminal who was accused of various human rights violations, including looting, extortion, and abuses against local populations in areas under his group's control. On February 16, 2022, he was removed from his leadership position by a tribunal of Syrian opposition factions investigating these accusations. He became the leader of the group once again on May 2, 2023, due to lack of evidence against him. Not much known about the group, due to the low media coverage. The group was accused of commiting massacres against Alawites on March 6, they reportedly commited executions, arson and rape.