Assad’s fall sparked joy for many Syrians, but it also triggered wariness from his religious sect, the Alawites, a Shiite offshoot that makes up around 10% of the population. Alawites served as ...

At the bottom of Nisrine Ezzedine's garden, cement blocks mark the graves of her husband, son and nephew, all killed by ...

DEIR SHMAYEL, Syria — In the mountains east of Syria’s Mediterranean coast, armed patrols root out Assad loyalists, masked gunmen monitor checkpoints and residents fret every strange face ...

The feeling is a new one for the Alawites, a group that was powerful and influential during the dictator's rule. The Alawites are a minority sect which follows an esoteric offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Assad’s fall sparked joy for many Syrians, but it also triggered wariness from his religious sect, the Alawites, a Shiite offshoot that makes up around 10% of the population. Alawites served as ...

Because of its religious diversity and bloody history during the civil war, the city is considered a test case for the new ...

But Alawites, from a branch of Shiite Islam, have an acute fear of reprisals because of their connection to the Assad clan, which recruited from and favoured its own religious community for ...

Security forces of the new Syrian government secure the area around a group of Alawite demonstrators in Damascus' Mazzeh district on Dec. 25, 2024. (Omar Sanadiki / Associated Press) ...