BBC finds families that take refuge in the Russian Air Base of the sectarian attacks

“My only son, only 25 years old,” says Dalaal Mahna, with tears filling her eyes. “They took it from my side and told me: ‘We are going to kill him and break your heart with him.’ “

That was the last Sierra de Dalaal of his son. She says she was shot dead by the gunmen who kidnapped him.

Dalaal is from the Alauita de Syria minority sect, which was attacked in an increase in sectarian violence since last week.

“Everyone knew that he had diabetes and anemia disorder, and that he was doing everything possible to survive.”

The BBC team found Dalaal seeking refuge with thousands of other people in a remote Russian air base in the country’s western coastal region.

A war monitoring group He says that more than 1,400 civilians have been killed since March 6, most of them Alauitas, in Latakia and the neighboring provinces of Tartous, Hama and Homs.

Dalaal is one of the few people willing to talk to us about what happened.

Last week, the security forces launched an operation in the region, in response to a growing insurgency by loyal combatants to the deposed to President Bashar al -assad, an alauito whose regime was dominated by members of the sect.

The violence intensified after 13 security personnel were killed in an ambush by armed men in the coastal city of Jableh.

The gunmen loyal to the government led by Sunni Islamists who replaced Assad have been accused of carrying out revenge murders in the predominantly Alauitas communities after the attack.

Whole families, including women and children, were killed over the next four days, according to the United Nations Human Rights Office.

On Wednesday, a spokesman told journalists that the UN had so far verified the murder of 111 civilians, but that the real figure was believed to be significantly higher.

Many of the cases were summary executions, he added.

On the road, our team found a car full of bullets.

It is unknown how many people died in him, nor his background.

But it is difficult to imagine that anyone inside survived.

The coastal road has been insured and clear after an attack by those described by the officials as remains of the old regime. The attack was followed by acts of revenge against members of the Alauita sect.

But our team saw dozens of bodies still scattered among the bushes and in the massive tombs, during a tour accompanied by combatants affiliated with the Syrian Defense Ministry.

Security sources told the BBC that Assad’s loyal ones behind the attack in Jableh were not killed.

Instead, they managed to retire to the nearby mountains when security forces deployed a large number of reinforcements throughout the country.

“All are from these villages,” said Mahmoud Al-Haik, a soldier in the Ministry of Defense of the new government, who has been parked in Baniyas in the Latakia field.

“All involved in what happened: they belonged to these communities. But now, everyone has abandoned the area.

“The area was in the full chaos. But, thank God, we managed to recover control. People began to return to their homes, and now, many are asking the rest to return.”

Most villages in the area are still abandoned.

Fearing the sectarian murders, the residents fled to the mountains, where they have been sleeping in open areas for a week.

On a town on the outskirts of Baniyas, our team met a small group of men who had returned cautiously to verify their houses and shops.

Alawite Wafiq Ismail said it was there when the attack was carried out, but that it would not go into details.

“Brother, I really can’t say anything about it. I don’t know. That’s all … may God keep us safe.”

In the Latakia field, the control of the Syrian Security Forces ends, and the limits of the HMEIMIM Air Base of the Russian Army begin.

Thousands of Auitas families have taken refuge in this basis to escape the attacks of several Syrian factions. They live in very hard conditions.

It is where Dalaal says his son was killed. Others told us similar stories.

Most families have lost someone: a son, a relative or a neighbor.

Another Alauita woman told us: “We need international protection of what we are happening. We leave our homes, we leave everything, our livelihoods and we came here.”

Very few details have been revealed about last Thursday attack and its important sectarian repercussions. These were recognized by Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, who directed the rebel offensive that defeated Assad in December.

Sharaa has promised to hold perpetrators, even if they are among their allies, saying that “we will not accept that blood is unjustly demolished.”

However, few believe that the wound caused by these events in the Syrian body already very healing will be easily cured.