Syrian security forces are slaughtering Alawites, an ethnic minority, killing militia fighters and civilians, according to human rights monitors. The death toll is rising, with the Associated Press reporting early Saturday evening that more than 1,000 had died, including 745 civilians, 148 Alawite militants, and 125 government security forces.
Most of the dead civilians had been killed “in shootings from close distance,” AP added, citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The recent clashes erupted Thursday, when apparent loyalists of Bashar al-Assad, the ousted Syrian leader, attacked a checkpoint in northwestern Syria run by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a rebel group that spearheaded an uprising in December and has sought to consolidate rule over the country.
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, has warned that the new Syrian government comprises terrorists linked to Al Qaeda, as Fox News noted in a Saturday report. “I have no love for Assad or any dictator. I just hate Al Qaeda. I hate that our leaders cozy up to Islamist extremists, calling them ‘rebels,’” Gabard said in her Senate confirmation hearing.
Gabbard has been accused of being an Assad apologist. In a famous 2019 exchange on Joe Rogan’s podcast, commentator Bari Weiss called Gabbard an “Assad toady,” though she admitted not knowing the word’s meaning. During the rebel uprising in December, then-President-elect Donald Trump shared his views on the development in a post on Truth Social. “THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!” Trump wrote.
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