 |
 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2012) |
 | This article needs to be updated.(March 2023) |
The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in Syria.
|
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2012) |
| This article needs to be updated.(March 2023) |
The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in Syria.
| Name | Date | Location | Deaths | Perpetrators | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massacre of the Telal | 1517 | Aleppo | 9,400 [1] | Turkish soldiers upon Selim I's order | Fatwas issued against the Nusayris (or 'Alawites') that declared them infidels. Around 9,400 Nusayris who assembled in Aleppo were all executed. [2] |
| Tafas massacre | 27 September 1918 | Tafas | 250 | Ottoman Empire | Massacre from the retreating Ottoman Army against arabic civilians |
| Name | Date | Location | Deaths | Perpetrators | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 Aleppo pogrom | December 1947 | Aleppo | 75 | Syrian state and Arab population of Aleppo | Half the city's Jewish population fled. |
| Name | Date | Location | Deaths | Perpetrators | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aleppo Artillery School massacre | 16 June 1979 | Aleppo | 83-110 | Muslim Brotherhood of Syria | |
| Jisr al-Shughour massacre (1980) | 9 March 1980 | Jisr al-Shughour | 150–200 | Syrian Army | |
| Siege of Aleppo (1980) | 1 April 1980 – February 1981 | Aleppo | 1,000–2,000 | Syrian Army | Multiple massacres over a period of time. |
| Tadmor Prison massacre | 27 June 1980 | Palmyra | 500–1,000 | Syrian Army | |
| 1981 Hama massacre | April 1981 | Hama | 400 | Syrian Army | Members of the male population rounded up and executed. |
| 1982 Hama massacre | February 1982 | Hama | 10,000–40,000 | Syrian Army | Genocidal, anti-Sunni sectarian massacre |
| Name | Date | Location | Deaths | Perpetrators | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2011 Jabal al-Zawiya massacres | 19–20 December 2011 | Jabal Zawiya | 120 | Syrian Army | 120 Syrian Army defectors massacred by the government. |
| Ram al-Anz and Ghajariyeh massacre | 27 February 2012 | Ram al-Anz and Ghajariyeh near Homs | 68 | Syrian government militia | Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 68 bodies were found between the villages of Ram al-Enz and Ghajariyeh. Syrian activists blamed pro-government militia. [3] [4] |
| Karm al-Zeitoun massacre | 9 March 2012 | Karm al-Zeitoun, Homs | 47 | Syrian Army | Syrian Army reportedly massacred 47 people after entering Karm al-Zeitoun. [5] |
| Taftanaz massacre | 5 April 2012 | Taftanaz, Idlib Governorate | 62 | Syrian Army | Syrian Army reportedly carried out a massacre by rounding up and executing people following the Battle of Taftanaz. [6] [7] |
| Houla massacre | 25 May 2012 | Houla | 108 | Shabiha and Syrian Army | 49 children among the dead. The UN concluded Syrian government forces were responsible. [8] However, after eye witness accounts published by German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung claimed it was rebel sectarian violence, [9] UNHRC concluded that there was insufficient evidence to determine who had committed the massacre. [10] |
| Al-Buwaida al-Sharqiya massacre | 31 May 2012 | Al-Buwaida al-Sharqiya | 13 | Syrian government forces | |
| Al-Qubair massacre | 6 June 2012 | Al-Qubair, in Maarzaf | 80–100 | Syrian Army | Victims were stabbed and shot. [11] |
| Daret Azzeh massacre | 22 June 2012 | Darat Izza | 25 | Rebels | Rebels claim to have killed 25 men who they accused of being a part of the Shabbiha. [12] [13] |
| Siege of Hama | 31 July – 4 August 2012 | Hama | 100–200 | Syrian Army | Syrian government forces reportedly killed up to 200 civilians in an assault on the city of Hama. [14] |
| Darayya massacre | 20–25 August 2012 | Darayya, Rif Dimashq | 320 [15] –500 [16] | Syrian Army | Many people were killed in a five-day Army assault on the town, which was rebel-held.[ citation needed ] According to the opposition, Human Rights Watch and some local residents the killings were committed by the Syrian military and Shabiha militiamen. [17] According to the government and some local residents they were committed by rebel forces. [18] |
| Maarrat Al-Nu'man massacre | 8 – 13 October 2012 | Maarrat al-Nu'man | 65 | Syrian Army | During the Battle of Maarrat Al-Nu'man, the Syrian Army reportedly executed 65 people, [19] including 50 defecting soldiers. [20] |
| Aqrab massacre | 11 December 2012 | Aqrab, Hama Governorate | 125 (Includes wounded) | Rebels | Alawite villagers attacked by Syrian rebels, with 10 confirmed killed. [21] |
| Basatin al-Hasawiya massacre | 15 January 2013 | Homs | 106 | Syrian Army | Syrian government troops stormed the village of Basatin al-Hasawiya on the outskirts of Homs city reportedly killing 106 civilians. [22] |
| Queiq River massacre | 29 January–14 March 2013 | Queiq River, Aleppo | 147–230 | Syrian Army | Between 29 January and 14 March 2013, opposition activists claimed that they found about 230 bodies on the banks and in the Queiq river in Aleppo. They accused government forces of being the ones who executed the men since the bodies came down the river from the direction of government-held areas of the city. Human Rights Watch was able to identify at least 147 victims, all male and aged between 11 and 64. [23] |
| Tadamon massacre | 16 April 2013 | Tadamon, Damascus, Syria | 41-280+ | Syrian Army | The Tadamon massacre happened in April 2013 in the Tadamon district of Damascus during the Syrian civil war. Syrian soldiers from Military Intelligence 227 killed 41 civilians near the Ottoman Mosque. The victims were executed individually and buried in mass graves., [24] [25] |
| Battle of Jdaidet al-Fadl | 16–21 April 2013 | Rif Dimashq | 100–300 | Syrian Army | Syrian Army was accused by the opposition of carrying out a massacre. SOHR claimed that 250 people were killed since the start of the battle, with them being able to document, by name, 127 of the dead, including 27 rebels. Another opposition claim put the death toll at 450. [26] [27] [28] One activist source claimed he counted 98 bodies in the town's streets and 86 in makeshift clinics who were summarily executed. Another activist stated they documented 85 people who were executed, including 28 who were killed in a makeshift hospital. [29] |
| Bayda and Baniyas massacres | 2–3 May 2013 | Bayda and Baniyas, Tartus Governorate | 128–450 | Alawite militias | Assault by Alawite militias against the local Sunni population. [30] [31] |
| Hatla massacre | 11 June 2013 | Hatla, Deir el-Zour | 60 | Rebels | Shiite villagers killed by Syrian rebels. |
| Khan al-Assal massacre | 22 July 2013 | Khan al-Asal, Aleppo | 51-123+ | Rebels | Rebels executed 51–123 POWs and Civilians. [32] |
| Alawite villages of Latakia countryside massacres | 4 August 2013 | Latakia Governorate | 190+ | Rebels | Rebel groups, al-Nusra Front, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar, Ahrar al-Sham and Suqour al-Ezz, attacked and overran army positions in the Sheikh Nabhan area. Human Rights Watch claimed some 190 noncombatants were killed. [33] |
| Ghouta chemical attack | 21 August 2013 | Al-Ghouta, Damascus, Syria | 281 [34] –1,729 [35] | Syrian Army | Syrian activists reported that government forces struck Jobar, Zamalka, 'Ain Tirma, and Hazzah in the Eastern Ghouta region with chemical weapons. |
| Adra massacre | 6 December 2013 | Adra, Syria | 32–80 | Al-Nusra Front | This was the alleged massacre of at least 32 civilians in the industrial town of Adra, Syria. Government claims that at least 80 were killed. [36] It was reportedly conducted by the al-Nusra Front and Jaysh al-Islam, a subgroup of the Islamic Front. [37] [38] |
| Shu'aytat massacre | Mid August 2014 | Deir ez-Zor Governorate | 700 | Islamic State | In mid August Islamic State fighters massacred some 700 people, mostly men, of the Shu'aytat tribe in Deir ez-Zor Governorate. [39] |
| Eshtabraq massacre | 25 April 2015 | Eshtabraq, Idlib Governorate | 200+ | Al-Nusra Front | After Jabhat al-Nusra and Islamist allies in the "Army of Conquest" seized Jisr al-Shughour, they attacked an Alawite village named Eshtabraq and committed the massacre. [40] |
| Palmyra massacre | 22 May 2015 | Tadmur, Homs Governorate | 400+ | Islamic State | After capturing the city of Palmyra, Islamic State massacred over 400 civilians [41] |
| Qalb Loze massacre | 10 June 2015 | Idlib Governorate | 23+ | Al-Nusra Front | On 10 June al-Nusra massacred a Druze community in the village from Qalb lawza in Idlib province [42] |
| Kafr Saghir massacre | 20 March 2016 | Kafr Saghir, Aleppo Governorate | 20+ | Islamic State | Islamic State massacred 20+ Arabs and Kurds while attacking the Government held town of Kafr Saghir [43] |
| Zara'a massacre | 12 May 2016 | Hama Governorate | 49+ | Al-Nusra Front | Rebels led by the Al-Qaeda branch Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar ash-Sham massacred 42 civilians and seven NDF militiamen while kidnapping up to 70 people after taking control of the Alawite village of Zara'a in Southern Hama. [44] [45] |
| May 2016 Jableh and Tartus bombings | 23 May 2016 | Jableh and Tartus, Latakia Governorate | 189 |  ISIS | Series of car bomb and suicide attacks in government-controlled territory that hosts Russian military bases |
| Khan Shaykhun chemical attack | 4 April 2017 | Khan Shaykhun | 89–100+ | Syrian Arab Air Force | |
| Douma chemical attack | 7 April 2018 | Douma, Syria | 48–85 | Syrian Armed Forces [46] | |
| 2018 As-Suwayda attacks | 25 July 2018 | As-Suwayda | 258 | Islamic State | |
| The Baghuz strike | 18 March 2019 | Baghuz | ~70 | United States Air Force | American F-15E attack jet dropped a 500-pound bomb on large group of women and children huddled at river bank near a dirt field in the town of Baghuz. A jet tracking them then dropped two 2,000-pound bombs on the remaining survivors, killing them all. [47] |
| Ma'arrat Nu'man market bombing | 22 July 2019 | Maarrat al-Numan, Idlib Governorate | 43 |  Russian Air Force | |
| Qah missile strike | 20 November 2019 | Qah | 15 | Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces | |
| 2023 Homs drone strike | 5 October 2023 | Homs Military Academy, Homs | 95 | Unknown | Syrian military graduation ceremony at the Homs Military Academy was targeted by a drone strike, leaving 95 people dead and over 277 injured |
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