KHIRBET AL-MA’ZAH, Syria—When Sunni Islamist rebels toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime , many residents of this rural village were elated by the end of a half-century of oppression even though they belonged to the same Muslim sect as Syria’s deposed dictator.
The residents, members of the Alawite minority, now say their excitement has been replaced by fear. Masked men have terrorized the village, beating people, looting homes and using anti-Alawite slurs. Some community members have been missing for days after the attacks and are feared dead.
Khodr Ibrahim , a 22-year-old resident of the village, said he was playing videogames in a shop when he and his 24-year-old brother were pulled outside by armed men. They pointed their rifles at the Ibrahims, cursing their Alawite backgrounds, staging mock executions and striking the elder brother until several older women in the village persuaded the militants to stop, the family and other townspeople said.
“I thought for certain they would kill us,” Ibrahim said.

Fighters of the ruling Syrian body patrol the street, after dissent surfaced in the city of Homs, north of Damascus, and state media reported that police imposed an overnight curfew on Wednesday night, following unrest linked to demonstrations that residents said were led by members of the Alawite and Shi’ite religious communities, in Homs, Syria December 26, 2024. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
In nearly two dozen interviews, Syrian Alawites said they are worried about discrimination under the new government and the risk of attacks by the country’s many militias and gangs, who could seek revenge for abuses committed by the Assad dynasty during its long and brutal reign. They point to a collection of disparate incidents in the past two months—including alleged extrajudicial killings, claims of discrimination at checkpoints and the destruction of a religious shrine—that they say are beginning to resemble a pattern of anti-Alawite acts.
The violence is a significant concern for the U.S. as well. The nightmare scenario for Syria after the rapid rebel victory led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is a descent into bitter sectarian conflict. Failure to protect communities like the Alawites could cause frustrations to boil over, a senior U.S. diplomat said.
“We were freed from Assad like the rest of Syria. We support the revolution,” said Faryaal Ghanaam , the Ibrahims’ mother. “Now, it is on HTS to protect us, treat all Syrians equally, and bring us into the fold to help rebuild this nation.”
HTS spokesmen didn’t respond to requests for comment or provide interviews with ministers. The group’s leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa , has routinely promised to respect Syria’s diversity and protect religious minorities.
Alawites make up about 10% of Syria’s population of 24 million, living mostly along the country’s Mediterranean coast and nearby hilly countryside. They have long kept the details of their religious traditions private but are known to venerate Ali, a cousin of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, and incorporate mysticism into their faith. They are considered heretics by some Sunni extremists and have been persecuted in the past.
Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, who founded the family regime with a military coup, were Alawites and portrayed themselves as protectors of the community. In reality, many Alawites suffered along with other Syrians under a government known for its divisive tactics and use of torture and extrajudicial killings . Many Alawites opposed the regime.
Fakher Zeidan , an Alawite writer and political prisoner for about 10 years, said the dictator employed tactics to keep Alawites poor, including by diverting public funding from their communities, so they would have little choice but to turn to the military for a salary.

Children stand on the top of an abandoned Syrian government forces tank in the Alawite neighborhood of Homs, Syria, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
“Any dissent was crushed, regardless of sect,” said Zeidan, who said he was tortured during his imprisonment after attempting to organize a grass-roots revolution in the 1980s.
Still, many senior military commanders and those in Assad’s close political circle were Alawites, and the extensive abuses under their rule have left a wide scope for revenge.
In a mystery that has rocked Syria’s Alawites, three judges who worked under the Assad system were found dead along the road on Christmas Eve after traveling to meet officials with the new government, two of their widows said in interviews. Photos of their bloodied bodies circulated online.

A fighter of the ruling Syrian body looks on as he rides on a vehicle, after dissent surfaced in the city of Homs, north of Damascus, and state media reported that police imposed an overnight curfew on Wednesday night, following unrest linked to demonstrations that residents said were led by members of the Alawite and Shi’ite religious communities, in Homs, Syria December 26, 2024. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
The judges, who worked on administrative cases related to land ownership, were optimistic about their professional future and were in talks about working under the new government, their widows said.
It still isn’t known who was responsible for the killings. HTS quickly told the families it is investigating the incident, the widows said. The Justice Ministry in the provisional Syrian government didn’t respond to requests for comment.
“I can’t say for sure what led to this. Is it because they were judges? Alawites? Was it a former prisoner who targeted them? Or was it someone from an extreme faction? These ideas all run through my head,” said Faten Khadam , a widow of one of the judges, dressed all in black. “What I am certain of is that I don’t feel safe, and neither does any Syrian I know.”
The scale of extrajudicial killings of Alawites remains unclear. Videos purporting to depict revenge attacks continue to circulate online and stir concerns.
The U.S. doesn’t think HTS—an al Qaeda offshoot that has professed to reject extremism—is behind the string of killings in an organized way, but it wants HTS to publicly get a handle on the violence or risk the fragile security crumbling apart, the senior U.S. diplomat said.
The mood in Alawite areas along the coast is noticeably more tense than the freewheeling atmosphere in newly liberated Damascus , the capital. Government checkpoints become more frequent on the approach to the coast, and their minders more serious. Travelers said they are sometimes asked about their religion or even whether they are Alawite before being allowed to pass.
Khirbet al-Ma’zah, where the Ibrahims live, is encircled by checkpoints staffed with heavily armed men and decorated with Islamist banners. Troops under the new government’s coalition have been deployed extensively there after an attack last month by what the government called pro-Assad elements, in which more than a dozen members of the security forces were killed .
During the day many shops are closed, and townspeople said they have become afraid of congregating openly. At night, they take shifts staying awake to keep watch for attackers.
The attack happened in the same area where the government said it arrested a senior Assad official who oversaw some operations at the notorious Sednaya prison. Over the past week, the new government says it has launched operations against Assad loyalists, their hide-outs and ammunition stores in cities including Homs and Aleppo.
Alawites say the raids are fanning suspicions about Alawite civilians by feeding the impression that they were close to the toppled leader. Many supported going after senior officials of the fallen regime but wanted more transparency from the new government about its targets.
HTS has said it would protect all of Syria’s ethnic and religious communities and has set up reconciliation centers where members of the old regime can sign up to participate in the new government.
Ali Shbani , 27, lives in the dense, mostly Alawite working-class neighborhood of Mezzeh 86 in Damascus. He served in the military, like many men his age who couldn’t find stable work, and abandoned his post late last year as it became clear the government would fall.
In the days after, he joined thousands of other Syrian military veterans and registered with the new government. He fears he will be treated differently.
“My Sunni friends who were in the Army, they are much more at ease than me,” Shbani said. “And some of them have been called on to join the new government’s military.”
Write to Omar Abdel-Baqui at omar.abdel-baqui@wsj.com