The killings were a troubling sign that the revolt against President Bashar Assad’s regime is enflaming tensions among Syria’s volatile mix of religions. Most Syrians are Sunni Muslim, but Assad and the ruling elite belong to the minority Alawite sect.
Rami Abdul-Rahman, the director of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the violence began Saturday after the dismembered bodies of three Alawite government supporters were dumped in Homs, a city that has become a focal point of the uprising.
The next day, six bodies from various sects were found dumped in the city, apparently in revenge attacks, a Homs resident said. Pro-government thugs called then went on a rampage, the resident said, opening fire in predominantly Sunni neighborhoods in Homs.
Up to 40 shops were vandalized or burned, he said.
“It was a catastrophe, the situation could easily have slipped out of control,” he said, adding the situation calmed down Monday but tensions were high.
Another activist said the dead included a 27-year-old mother of three, who was shot as she left her home, and a man in his 50s who was struck by a bullet on his balcony.
“I was at the man’s funeral yesterday, all he did was go out on his balcony,” he said, adding that civilians have started setting up roadblocks to protect their neighborhoods.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a Syrian activist in Homs put the death toll at 30 and said they have the names of the victims.
But another activist in Homs said he’s not certain if the death toll was as high as 30. He suggested the real number may be about half.
The activists in Homs spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
Human rights group say more than 1,600 people, most of them unarmed civilians, have been killed in Assad’s crackdown on protesters calling for regime change. The government disputes that toll and blames the unrest on gunmen and religious extremists looking to stir up sectarian strife.
Some 350 soldiers and policemen also are believed to have died in the unrest.
In many ways, sectarian warfare is the worst-case scenario in Syria. The country is home to more than 1 million refugees from neighboring Iraq, who serve as a clear testament to the dangers of regime collapse and fracture in a religiously divided society. They also see the seemingly intractable sectarian tensions in Lebanon as a cautionary tale.
But the opposition movement in Syria, still struggling to find a unified voice, has been careful to paint their movement as free of any sectarian overtones.
Several opposition members have expressed frustration that the regime is trying to play off of sectarian fears — all the while using the shabiha and elite Alawite military forces to terrify protesters into submission.
The protest movement also accuses the regime of fomenting sectarian tensions in an attempt to present itself as the only force that can protect minorities in Syria and guarantee security.
“The Assad regime itself has a vested interest to portray the protest movement as one which is violent led by criminals, terrorists and by external actors,” said Anthony Skinner, associate director at Maplecroft, a British-based risk analysis company.
The bloodshed has led to international condemnation and sanctions. On Monday, the EU said Syria must immediately end the crackdown against the opposition if it is serious about reform.
Also Monday, Syria’s pro-government Al-Watan newspaper said that the Qatari embassy in Damascus has suspended operations. The reported blamed recent protests outside the embassy against Al-Jazeera’s coverage of the Syrian uprising. Al-Jazeera is based in Qatar.
Syria accuses Al-Jazeera and other media of incitement and fabricating events in their coverage of the protests.
An employee who answered the phone at the embassy told the AP the foreign staff left for Qatar on Saturday and only Syrian employees were still on duty. She asked for anonymity because she was not authorized to speak publicly.
