Systematic Looting, Burning and Bulldozing of Property on the Syrian Coast

Over the past two weeks, villages and towns along the Syrian coast have witnessed a systematic campaign of looting, burning, and bulldozing of properties. This campaign was accompanied by mass killings and forced displacement, carried out by armed groups affiliated with the Ministry of Defence under the transitional administration, which is dominated by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS).

The violations targeted civilians’ homes, commercial establishments, agricultural lands, and private vehicles, with documented crimes against residents. This report records firsthand testimonies collected by a correspondent for The Syria Report from affected villages and presents examples of the damage inflicted on housing, land, and property rights within the context of a military escalation that rapidly turned into an organised assault on daily life. While the violence that erupted in the coastal area began on March 6 by Assad remnants attacking troops from the government and inflicting a large number of military and civilian casualties, this report focuses primarily on HLP-related damages and the violence that accompanied it and that impacted civilians, which according to the testimonies we collected, was largely committed by HTS-affiliated forces.

On March 6, armed groups loyal to the former regime launched coordinated attacks on security sites in Jableh and rural Lattakia, targeting the newly established General Security Forces (GSF) formed by the transitional administration in Damascus. In response, the GSF, backed by factions newly integrated into the army created by the Ministry of Defence, launched a large-scale military campaign to regain control of these areas. 

Salafi militias and various armed groups joined the campaign in response to anti-Alawite sectarian calls issued by some mosque preachers aligned with HTS. The campaign resulted in severe violations against civilians and their rights.

The Syrian Network of Human Rights (SNHR) has documented the extrajudicial killing of 1,034 individuals between March 6 and March 15, of which 439 were killed by remnants of the Assad regime, and 595 by forces linked to the transitional government.

In Snobar Jableh, a village in north-eastern rural Jableh within the Bahluliyah district of the Lattakia governorate, the aftermath of the invasion was evident from the outset. Dozens of homes were set ablaze after being looted, and commercial shops were reduced to blackened ruins. One hundred civilians were killed within just a few hours of the Ministry of Defence forces’ entry, residents told The Syria Report. The scene in some streets suggested a complete uprooting of people and their possessions.

In the coastal city of Banias, located in the Tartous governorate, testimonies consistently described the entry of Ministry of Defence-affiliated groups into the Al-Qusour neighbourhood, where arbitrary killings and house raids took place. The groups later withdrew, leaving the streets littered with bodies, while survivors recounted harrowing experiences of verbal and physical humiliation.

In the villages of Istamo and Ain Al-Arous in rural Qardaha, residents had no choice but to flee into the fields. Many homes in these villages were set on fire. One witness reported seeing summary executions carried out in the agricultural lands where people had sought refuge.

In Shalfatiyah, a village in eastern rural Jableh within the Qutailbiyah district of the Lattakia governorate, residents told The Syria Report that 45 people were killed, with about 20 still missing. Ten houses were completely consumed by fire, while others were partially burned. No shop or kiosk was spared from looting or burning, even those that contained nothing but vegetable crates or small refrigerators. Public services were entirely absent – no electricity, no medicine, no pharmacies. People relied on whatever food remained from the land and on limited relief aid that arrived days later.

Overlapping accounts from residents suggest that the looting and burning were not isolated acts. The forces that carried out the raids showed no hesitation in committing violations and did not appear to be waiting for orders from the operation’s leadership. Homes were stormed, robbed, and then set on fire. Most of the houses that were burned had witnessed summary executions beforehand. Some families who lost their homes took shelter with relatives, without any means to rebuild or even relocate to urban areas.

The same methods of destruction were used across all villages and towns – torches to ignite homes, hand grenades thrown inside houses and vehicles, and agricultural machinery being blown up. These tactics suggest that the events were not merely the actions of undisciplined individuals, as promoted by HTS  and its Ministry of Defence, but rather a systematic campaign to destroy civilian property.

In the village of Al-Mukhtariyah, located in northeastern part of the Lattakia governorate near the administrative border with the Al-Ghab Plain, the situation has gone beyond looting and burning. Rather, the population has almost entirely disappeared — estimated to have been in the few hundreds. Those who remained sought refuge in nearby villages such as Jabriyun and Damyun, located in rural Qardaha, south of Al-Mukhtariyah. Survivors said there were few  male survivors and described a near-total destruction of homes.

In Al-Khuraybah, a small village southeast of Bahluliyah, looting continued even at the time this report was prepared. The village is deserted, and its residents do not dare return or even approach it.

Adding to this devastation, simultaneous fires engulfed the outskirts of dozens of villages. Multiple witnesses confirmed that these fires were not accidental.  Several testimonies suggested that Ministry of Defence forces were responsible for deliberately setting fires, with some witnesses reporting sectarian slogans during the incidents. Fires were used against private cultivated lands and orchards, as well as forests surrounding villages and towns. The Syrian Civil Defence reported that it was still dealing with eight major fires but noted that fire trucks had been ambushed and shot at, preventing them from reaching the affected areas.

A correspondent for The Syria Report managed to visit some of these villages after the fighting subsided, collecting testimonies from residents and survivors. The correspondent also followed reports from relief teams and local organisations that entered the area with permission from the Ministry of Defence on March 14.

As military operations subsided on March 13, limited relief teams entered some villages. However, the scale of losses far exceeded the capacity of any emergency response. The disaster was more than just a count of burned houses or documented corpses—it was a deep blow to people’s daily lives, their sense of balance, their safety, and their fundamental right to housing, livelihood, and dignity.

As of the time this report was prepared, while the government had set up an investigation committee and arrested some fighters who filmed themselves committing massacres,no official or military body within the new transitional administration had issued any statement regarding plans for compensation, reconstruction of the affected areas, or resettlement of those who lost their homes.