Alawite Council, cleric condemn violations, affirm support for Kurds

The Alawite Islamic Council issued a statement warning of serious and escalating violations in Syria, including arbitrary arrests, killings, arson, and abductions.

The council pointed out that what is happening in Syria has become “a systematic and dangerous pattern of violence, terrorism, and ethnic cleansing,” emphasizing that “the de facto authorities bear full responsibility for the ongoing bloody course.”

The statement further warned that the rise of “terrorism, hate speech, and continued impunity constitutes an existential threat to Syria’s indigenous components.”

The council stressed “full solidarity with our Kurdish brothers,” praising their resilience, positions, and their declaration to confront the attacks.

Meanwhile, the spiritual leadership of the Druze community in Syria, led by Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, condemned “the invasion of Kurdish families and innocents in their liberated areas in Aleppo and its surroundings.”

Since late last year, Aleppo city and its eastern countryside have witnessed continuous military escalation, amid clashes and mutual shelling between factions affiliated with the transitional government, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and Syrian internal security forces.

In this context, the Syrian government launched a military operation several days ago to “clear” certain areas in Aleppo province, resulting in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Syrians and the killing and wounding of others.

Fighting reignites in Aleppo
The current episode of fighting in Aleppo began on January 6, between Syrian interim government personnel and Syrian Democratic Forces elements, with both sides accusing each other of starting the fight.

The violence is occurring amid stalled progress on the implementation of a March agreement intended to integrate the Kurds’ semi-autonomous administration and military structures into Syria’s interim government, with tensions periodically flaring, especially in Aleppo, which contains two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods.

Syria’s state news agency SANA reported that SDF forces struck an area near the Shihan roundabout, resulting in the death of one Defense Ministry member, and later added that three civilians, including two women, were killed following what it described as SDF shelling of residential buildings in Aleppo’s al-Midan neighbourhood.