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There was euphoria in December, when Syria's civil war appeared to end with the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. But fresh sectarian violence under a new transitional government has many questioning what the new Syria will really be like. From neighboring Lebanon, NPR's Jawad Rizkallah spoke with survivors. Many of them did not want to give full names because they fear for their lives. And a warning - one of their accounts includes a description of extreme violence against children.
JAWAD RIZKALLAH, BYLINE: Syria's new government hasn't allowed journalists to reach coastal areas, but I managed to reach a resident there by phone.
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ABU LEILA: (Speaking Arabic).
RIZKALLAH: This man, who goes by Abu Leila, describes seeing hundreds of men with machine guns shooting their way down his street. He and his wife grabbed their toddler and fled into the woods. From there, they watched an elderly neighbor get gunned down in the street.
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ABU LEILA: (Speaking Arabic).
RIZKALLAH: He says he wishes he could escape but feels trapped. Other Syrians have fled across the border into Lebanon.
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RIZKALLAH: I'm here at the river, the border between Lebanon and Syria. In front of me now, I see a family taking off their shoes and getting ready to cross.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
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RIZKALLAH: These people are Alawites, from the same offshoot sect of Shia Islam as the deposed President Bashar al-Assad. Some Sunnis see them as propping up the old regime. Earlier this month, after some old-regime loyalists attacked the new Syrian army in what looked like a challenge to the new regime, many mosques in different parts of Syria broadcast a call to battle. In the ensuing crackdown on the coast, where many Alawites live, civilians also came under attack in what human rights groups say were massacres of anywhere from 600 to 1,600 people, with thousands still missing.
SANAA: (Through interpreter) A 10-day-old baby - they slaughtered him, stomped on him in front of my eyes.
RIZKALLAH: This woman, named Sanaa, says she watched this happen to her neighbor's child. After that, she fled her own house, which the gunmen set on fire.
SANAA: (Speaking Arabic).
RIZKALLAH: She describes walking 45 miles, being shot at and then finally being escorted to safety by the Lebanese army. I met Sanaa in a shelter set up at a mosque near the river, where people have been crossing into Lebanon by the hundreds each day. A boy in a sling - his arm had been shot. Charities hand out food and drag in mattresses for people to rest. Most of the refugees here say their attackers wore government uniforms.
ZEINAB AHMED: (Speaking Arabic).
RIZKALLAH: Zeinab Ahmed says some of her attackers were wearing the signature black uniforms of state security. Others, she says, wore the colors of militias that are nominally under state control.
AHMED: (Speaking Arabic).
RIZKALLAH: She saw them from her balcony, arguing over whether or not to kill a man they had already beaten in the street. Within days, the Syrian government announced an investigation commission and later released images showing the arrests of suspects who'd published video of their crimes on social media. And Syria's new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has promised an inclusive Syria, made a televised speech promising accountability.
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PRESIDENT AHMED AL-SHARAA: (Speaking Arabic).
RIZKALLAH: "Anyone who assaults unarmed civilians will face severe consequences," he said. Some of the refugees here are wary of his past, though, and his previous ties to al-Qaida, which sees Alawites as heretics. Ten years ago, Sharaa himself told Al Jazeera...
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AL-SHARAA: (Non-English language spoken).
RIZKALLAH: ...That he considers Alawites deviants from Islam and blames all of them for Assad's crimes. So it's unclear whether Syria's new leader has been really willing to halt these killings or whether he's even able to control the more extremist members of his forces that are still operating under the old rhetoric. Until then, no one here feels safe going home. Jawad Rizkallah, NPR News, on the Lebanon-Syria border.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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