Syria: Fragile peace after Bedouin murders ignite sectarian tensions

Last Sunday, 23 November, a Bedouin couple were found murdered in the city of Homs, in Syria. The two were part of the Sunni Bani Khaled tribe. Behind them, sectarian slogans had been daubed on a wall.

The killings threatened to ignite a new wave of sectarian violence in Syria’s third-largest city, which is known for its diverse religious makeup.

Syria—Widespread protests

Individuals reportedly began shooting at houses in Alawite (a Shia offshoot) neighbourhoods. Then, on 25 November, Alawite leaders of the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council called protests in Latakia and Tartous, often considered strongholds of the religious minority. Officially, no casualties were reported. However, monitoring groups stated that dozens were injured.

Protesters chanted:

The blood of Druze isn’t cheap!
The blood of Shi’a isn’t cheap!
The blood of Christians isn’t cheap!
The blood of Kurds isn’t cheap!

BTNewsRoom reported that the demonstrators denounced the continued sectarian disappearances and killings, and called for the release of Alawite prisoners detained by the new government. Some also demanded a federalised system, in the belief that this would protect minority communities.

Outside Homs, cities in the Latakia and Tartous regions — including Safita, Dreikish, Jableh, Qardaha, and Sheikh Badr — saw protests and sit-ins. They called for an end to the “killing of Alawites” and “the human right to live in safety and dignity.”

Al Jazeera explained that:

During the Syrian uprising that eventually brought down al-Assad, Homs was described by some activists as the heart of the revolution. Members of its Sunni Muslim community in particular had long complained about oppression from the al-Assad regime, which was led by Alawite.

Homs is still a multifaith and multiethnic city, with Sunni, Alawite and Christian communities.

Since the ouster of al-Assad in December 2024, Alawite in Homs have reported cases of discrimination, violence, and eviction from their homes. After the coastal violence in March, some Alawite fled Syria for villages in Lebanon’s Akkar region.

Fragile peace

This week, security forces working alongside a handful of tribal leaders reportedly helped to avert widespread bloodshed. Reuters reported that officers used gunfire to break up rival protesters. However, the officials did arrest some 120 individuals involved in violence, and imposed a curfew. This included both Alawite-majority areas and nearby Sunni-majority and mixed areas.

Thus far, Syria seems to have avoided all-out sectarian fighting after the week’s tensions. However, the peace has been exceptionally fragile since the fall of ex-President Bashar al-Assad last year. Sectarian conflict has since broken out in the coastal region in March and Suwayda in July.

Syria is currently led by president Ahmed al-Sharaa, AKA nom de guerre Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani, a former Al Qaeda fighter. His transitional government has faced criticism from the international community for its failure to quell these earlier outbreaks of violence. As such, the more immediate reaction to the threat of sectarian conflict in this instance will likely boost al-Sharaa’s international legitimacy.

‘The root cause is not controlled’

The government — drawn from Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority — has also tried to downplay the sectarian angle of the Bedouin murders. Brigadier general Marhaf al-Naasan, Homs’ Internal Security Commander, posted a Facebook statement claiming that the government:

strongly condemns this heinous crime and affirms that its objective is clearly to ignite sectarian rhetoric and sow discord within our community.

Whilst the threat of continued sectarian conflict is far from over, reports currently indicate that the peace is holding in Syria — at least for now.

Syrian researcher and human rights specialist Lina Ghoutouk told Al Jazeera that the government must do more to disarm the tribal factions:

The communication from the government side was good. It was clear that this violence, aggression, or sectarianism is completely unacceptable. […]

The problem is that the root cause is not controlled.

Uncontrolled weapons on the loose mean [such incidents] could happen again.

Featured image via the Canary