No checkpoint is the same, some require paperwork, while others just wave you through after a quick glance inside. From Damascus to Latakia, numerous checkpoints dot the landscape, ensuring that everyone is checked in one way or another every time.
Just a month or two ago, this was not the case. However, everything has changed now after the most violent few days since Bashar al Assad was ousted from power in December last year.
Cities like Jableh on Syria’s Mediterranean coast are now almost unrecognizable.
The once bustling streets, markets, and shops are now silent, only occasionally pierced by the sirens of passing General Security convoys with armed soldiers in pickup trucks. The aftermath of battle is evident everywhere – burnt buildings, bullet-riddled structures, shattered glass, and spent machine gun casings litter the streets.
Cities like Jableh, on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, are almost unrecognizable now
The debris of battle is everywhere after pro-Assad militia attacked the city
Following three months of relative peace, things have taken a dramatic turn due to the events of 6, 7, and 8 March – days that could determine Syria’s future.
Driving out of Jableh over a bridge, passing through another checkpoint, and a deserted village where Syrian Alawites once lived, now devastated with homes and shops destroyed, guarded by soldiers.
Heading towards the Hmeimim air base, a refuge for the Russian military in Syria, now also housing up to 10,000 displaced Alawites who have sought shelter and protection.
The Hmeimim air base is home to the Russian military in Syria
The site is also now home to as many as 10,000 Alawites camping in and around the area
As many as 10,000 people are seeking refuge, some in tents or makeshift cover, while others sleep rough or in their cars, all under the watchful eyes of Russian soldiers.
A young woman whispered, “We need help, international help. We need peacekeepers; my house was on fire.”
Amidst the chaos, Adiba Shehaidi sleeps rough outside the base after fleeing her village, Ain al Arous, recounting the atrocities she witnessed.
Further investigation reveals a mass grave in the village of Al Sanobar, with sticks marking burial sites. The village residents have buried 80 people here, including a family of 17.
In another grim discovery, a group of men in the village are digging more graves, revealing the bodies of their loved ones. In total, 223 people from this village alone have been buried.
A mass grave in the village of Al-Sanobar
Sticks have been placed in the earth to show where a body is buried
Back at the base, families bid their final goodbyes to the deceased, holding simple ceremonies before laying them to rest near their homes, devastated by the loss.
Amidst their grief, the families’ demand for justice is palpable.
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Government security forces are on constant patrol in the areas of the massacres, urging the Alawites to return to their villages, assuring them of safety.
Convoys of government security forces patrol all areas where the killings occurred