March 2025 Western Syria clashes

March 2025 Western Syria clashes
Part of the Western Syria clashes (December 2024–present) in the Syrian civil war
Date 6 March 2025 – present (3 days) Location Latakia and Tartus governorates, Syria Status Ongoing
Belligerents
Syrian Transitional Government	Assad loyalists and pro-Ba'athist insurgents
Commanders and leaders
Ahmed al-Shara Murhaf Abu Qasra Ali Noureddine al-Naasan Ali Keda Mustafa Kneifati Hassan Soufan Anas Al-Ayrout	Suheil al-Hassan Ghiath Suleiman Dalla Miqdad Fatiha
Units involved
Syrian Armed Forces Syrian Army 62nd Division 118th Division Syrian Air Force Ministry of Interior General Security Services Syrian National Army First Corps Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror Brigade	Military Council for the Liberation of Syria Syrian Popular Resistance Coastal Shield Brigade Islamic Resistance Front in Syria
Strength
Mi-24 attack helicopters	5,000 insurgents (Latakia governor's claim)
Casualties and losses
125 security forces members killed	148 insurgents killed
190 civilians killed (SNHR estimate) 745 civilians killed (SOHR estimate)

The March 2025 Western Syria clashes on 6 March 2025 significantly escalated from the ongoing Western Syria clashes. The March clashes started at the town of Jableh near the city of Latakia, where a "large and coordinated attack" by Assad loyalist insurgents took place. Mustafa Kneifati, a security official in the Syrian Transitional Government, said that there were numerous killed and injured among government forces.

Timeline

6 March

Latakia's province director said that an armed pro-Assad group, affiliated with Suhayl al-Hasan (nicknamed "The Tiger") and which included the newly-formed Military Council for the Liberation of Syria, conducted an attack in the city. Helicopters of the Syrian Air Force conducted airstrikes in the village of Beit Ana in response to this attack. Clashes in the village resulted in one security force member killed and two wounded. Alawite leaders called for peaceful protests in response to the air strikes.

UK-based SOHR reported that Syrian security forces and pro-government fighters perpetrated massacre of more than 700 Alawite civilians across parts of the Latakia countryside.

Alawite civilians and their families fled to Russia's Khmeimim Air Base in Latakia province to seek refuge.

7 March

Though Syrian Transitional Government managed to retake certain areas, such as the Jableh Naval college, the city itself remained with a significant Ba'athist presence which continued to launch attacks against the government.

The Syrian Popular Resistance stated that it had taken control of numerous villages in Jabal al Alawiyin and expanded the scope of its operations to Masyaf in the Hama countryside.

8 March

Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reported that 164 civilians were killed by armed militias supporting the Syrian government between 6 and 8 March. Assad loyalist groups killed 26 civilians and 121 police members of the Syrian General Security Service.

Responses

Kuwait and Bahrain condemned "the crimes committed by outlaws in Syria and their targeting of security forces and state institutions". Following the massacres, protests erupted in Turkey against the Turkish government's support for the Syrian forces, who, according to the protesters, committed crimes against humanity.

Analysis

The Institute for the Study of War found that even though most populated areas were secured, this did not indicate that the insurgency was defeated as cells in Tartous and Latakia's countryside are still present. It also found that the insurgents have a presence outside of the coastal provinces, with some insurgent pockets of resistance fighting in Hama too. ISW also argued that the capture of some Ba'athist military leaders would not affect the insurgency, as it is not under the control of any one group and there is no clear evidence that these commanders were involved in planning.

Pro-government sources have tended to blame Alawites for the massacres perpetrated against them and some alleged the massacres against Alawites were "false flag attacks".

According to Aron Lund from the independent research foundation Century International, the "new al-Sharaa regime is weak and depends on security forces that are only partly under its control and that are full of anti-Alawite chauvinists." Lund told the AFP news agency: "Both sides feel like they're under attack, both sides have suffered horrific abuses at the hands of the other side, and both sides are armed."