Days after a bombing at a mosque in a predominantly Alawite area, members of the religious minority in Syria demonstrated for better protections.
After more than a decade of wars, from Syria to Gaza, the Middle East is exhausted by conflict. Is it ready to find another way?
Ansar al-Sunna, which experts say appears to be an ISIS splinter group, claimed responsibility for the explosion, which happened as worshipers were attending Friday Prayer.
Fourteen people are on trial, charged with crimes related to an outbreak of sectarian violence under the new government. The abuses of the old Assad regime still await a reckoning.
The demonstrations followed unrest over the weekend in Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, which set off reprisal attacks on Alawites, a community once favored by the ousted Assad regime.
The government acted quickly to tamp down reprisals in the central city of Homs as it tries to manage repeated waves of bloodshed involving minority groups.
More than 400,000 Syrians have been displaced in the year since the civil war ended, according to the United Nations, driven by a mix of sectarian violence, acts of revenge and property disputes.
The ex-rebels now in control of Syria say they are ending rule by fear, overhauling the security and prison systems, and holding elections. But concerns over sectarianism and inclusivity remain.
An inquiry found that members of the new government’s forces took part in killing Syrian civilians during sectarian fighting in March, but found no evidence that they acted on government orders.
A fact-finding committee presented findings on a wave of sectarian killings earlier this year. Human rights experts said the report failed to hold the country’s security establishment accountable.