Outdated Video Allegedly Depicting Jihadists Stabbing Alawites

Misbar investigated the claim and found it to be misleading.

A Video Claims Assad’s Army Stabbed Detainees

Al Arabiya News Channel published the video on its YouTube channel on February 13, 2013. According to the source, the footage shows members of Assad's army stabbing detainees to death.

The claim gained traction after thousands of people took to the streets on December 25 in several Syrian cities to protest following the circulation of a video allegedly showing an attack on an Alawite shrine in the north.

Al Jazeera, citing Syria’s new authorities, reported that the video was “old” and attributed the attack to “unknown groups,” warning that the republishing of the footage was intended to "stir up strife" a day after hundreds protested in Damascus over the torching of a Christmas tree.

BBC: Assad Supporters Kill 14 Troops in Tartous

The BBC reported that Syria’s new ruling forces claimed supporters of ousted President Bashar al-Assad had ambushed and killed 14 Interior Ministry troops in the west of the country. Ten other troops were injured in the attack, which occurred near the Mediterranean port of Tartous, a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite Muslim sect.

Demonstrations have been reported in Alawite-majority areas, including the cities of Tartous, Latakia, and Assad’s hometown of Qardaha. Alawites, often described as an offshoot of Shia Islam with a complex historical background, are a sect to which many of the former regime’s political and military elite, including the Assad family, belong. They are now fearful of retribution, as members of their community are held responsible for the widespread torture and killings that occurred under Assad’s rule.
Prior to the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, statistics indicated that Alawites made up between 10% and 13% of Syria’s total population.

Read More

Erdogan Did Not Announce Ambitions to Annex Syrian Cities

Viral Video of Tree Transport Misattributed to Turkey and Syria