Over 500 killed in clashes in Western Syria
Newshour
BBC
4.4 • 984 Ratings
🗓️ 8 March 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Over 500 people have been killed in violent clashes between gunmen loyal to ousted President Bashar al Assad and the authorities. Assad is from the Alawite religious minority and there are reports suggesting that the community is being targeted - with many civilians being killed. We speak to a Syrian woman trying to contact her family from abroad and an expert helps us understand Syria's new government.
Also in the programme: the network outsmarting AI Chatbots to spread Russian propaganda; and we go to Greenland to judge the mood ahead of the upcoming elections at a time when US President Donald Trump has said he wants to take over the territory.
(Photo: Syrian army personnel travel in a military vehicle as they head towards Latakia to join the fight against the fighters linked to Syria's ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, in Aleppo, Syria. Credit: Hossano/Reuters)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to NewsHour live from the BBC World Service in London. I'm Rebecca Kesbby. |
| 0:09.5 | And we begin the program today in Syria, where aid agencies are reporting that more than 500 people |
| 0:15.9 | have been killed in the past two days in the western Latakia and Tartus region along the Mediterranean coast. |
| 0:23.5 | Fighting broke out between government forces and gunmen loyal to the ousted former president Bashar al-Assad in recent days. |
| 0:31.2 | Assad is from the minority al-Alawite community and there have been numerous reports that that community has been targeted with many civilians killed, including children. |
| 0:41.6 | Well, a spokesman for Syria's Defence Ministry, Colonel Hassan Abdulgani, released a video statement calling on all individuals to lay down their arms. |
| 0:52.5 | Anyone who refuses to surrender their weapons to the state will face a decisive and uncompromising |
| 0:57.9 | response. Those betting on chaos failed to realize that the era of tyranny has ended. The Ba'ath regime |
| 1:04.9 | has been buried forever and its oppression has been crushed under the will of the Syrian people. |
| 1:10.3 | Those who still do not understand this will have it clarified directly on the ground. |
| 1:15.1 | He went on to say that government forces had regained control of the area. |
| 1:21.1 | The forces of the Ministry of Defence achieved rapid field progress, |
| 1:25.9 | re-establishing control over the areas that witnessed treacherous |
| 1:29.1 | attacks against general security personnel. We carried out decisive containment operations, |
| 1:34.9 | tightening the loose around the remaining elements of officers and remnants of the former regime. |
| 1:40.6 | Well, earlier today, the BBC's Lena Sinjab in Damascus told us what had been happening. |
| 1:46.6 | It all broke out on Thursday when the security forces were trying to look for remnants of the Assad regime, |
| 1:55.6 | but they've been ambushed by armed men who are supporters of a Assad regime. |
| 2:01.7 | And reports suggest that at least 50 of them were killed in several ambushes. |
| 2:06.7 | This is something that called for more support coming from the security forces from across the country. |
| 2:12.5 | But of course, among them, there were some groups who apparently are not, you know, adhering to the messages |
| 2:19.6 | coming from the top command of restoring order and not to commit violations. |
... |
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