1,200+ killed in targeted assassinations in Syria: SOHR
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Syria sees a surge in sectarian violence and killings post-Assad, with SOHR reporting 1,200+ deaths amid a growing security vacuum.
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Local residents ride a motorcycle along a war-damaged street in Palmyra, Syria, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025 (AP)
The Syria Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has reported that many regions across Syria have witnessed a troubling escalation in retaliatory violence and criminal acts targeting civilians from various sects and communities since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime on December 8, 2024.
Dozens of people were killed in a series of bloody incidents documented by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, after being targeted due to their sectarian affiliation or former regime ties under murky circumstances.
In the period between the regime's fall on December 8 and the eighth of October this year, a total of 1,237 people fell victim to retaliatory acts and summary killings in several Syrian provinces, with the casualties consisting of 1,182 men, 34 women, and 21 children, distributed as follows:
- Damascus: 54 in total, 53 men, 1 woman. 25 cases of sectarian violence.
- Damascus outskirts: 103 in total, 101 men, 2 women. 19 cases of sectarian violence.
- Homs: 390 in total, 362 men, 19 women, 9 children. 257 cases of sectarian violence.
- Hama: 284 total, 273 men, 7 women, 4 children. 193 cases of sectarian violence.
- Latakia: 119 total, 109 men, 4 women, 6 children. 97 cases of sectarian violence.
- Aleppo: 109 total, 109 men. 4 cases of sectarian violence.
- Tartus: 82 total, 80 men, 1 woman, 1 child. 62 cases of sectarian violence.
- Idlib: 21 total, 21 men.
- Sweida: 9 total, 9 men. 4 cases of sectarian violence.
- Daraa: 55 total, 54 men, 1 child. 1 case of sectarian violence.
- Deir ez-Zor: 11 total, 11 men.
Meanwhile, since the fall of the regime on December 8 until the end of 2024, revenge killings and summary executions have claimed 160 victims, a figure which consists of 159 men and 1 woman, distributed as follows:
- Damascus: 5 men
- Damascus outskirts: 8 men
- Aleppo: 16 men
- Homs: 41 in total, 40 men and 1 woman. 35 cases of sectarian violence.
- Hama: 52 men. 47 cases of sectarian violence.
- Latakia: 19 men. 19 cases of sectarian violence.
- Idlib: 1 man.
- Daraa: 5 men.
- Deir Ezzor: 2 men.
- Tartus: 8 men. 5 cases of sectarian violence.
- Sweida: 3 murders left unspecified.
Previously, on August 13, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) stated that it had allegedly documented the names of 28 Syrian citizens, including 12 women, who were executed in the field by members of the defense and interior ministries during the July Sweida massacre. This brought the total number of summary executions in Sweida since July 13 to 429, including 38 women, 14 children, and several elderly individuals.
On August 7, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) estimated that 9,889 people have been killed across Syria since the fall of the former regime, as the country continues to grapple with a dangerous political and security vacuum.
According to data obtained by the Syrian Observatory, a total of 7,449 civilians, including 396 children and 541 women, were killed between December 8, 2024, and August 6, 2025, a statistic which highlights the severe vulnerability of non-combatants in the ongoing unrest.
'Israel' continues its incursions into Syria
On the other hand, "Israel" has continued its territorial violations of southern Syria, infiltrating a village in Quneitra and shooting a civilian before withdrawing back into occupied territory.
On Wednesday, Syrian local sources reported that an Israeli occupation military patrol composed of six vehicles infiltrated the village of Mualaqa in the Quneitra countryside this morning.
Syrian news outlets reported that a young man was wounded by Israeli forces after being shot while collecting firewood in the Jabata al-Khashab forest in the Quneitra countryside.
Previously, on Tuesday evening, an Israeli occupation force patrol consisting of five military vehicles infiltrated the town of Al-Samadaniya Al-Sharqiya in the countryside of Quneitra in southern Syria. Syrian media reported that on the morning of Saturday, October 4, Israeli occupation forces raided the village of Jumla in western Daraa and detained four young men.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Israeli special forces infiltrated the village, moved through it, detained the young men, and established a temporary checkpoint at the village entrance, all under intensive surveillance by reconnaissance drones.
The sources noted that the Israeli occupation forces remained in the village for about an hour, a period during which six military vehicles were observed, before they withdrew toward the occupied Golan Heights.
