Overview

On 1 October a masked gunman on a motorbike opened fire in Anaz, in the Wadi al‑Nasara (Valley of the Christians), killing cousins Wissam and Shafiq Mansour as they sat with a friend. The attack fits a pattern of nighttime drive‑by shootings across Homs province that have targeted mainly Alawites but now also Christians, leaving survivors and relatives accusing authorities of failing to provide security. Witnesses say the shooter came from a nearby Sunni village; a wounded survivor says he will leave Syria again amid growing fear.

Context and impact

Reporters, local contacts and rights groups estimate at least 40 Alawites were killed in separate attacks in Homs between 5 June and 31 October, including civilians, a shopkeeper and a 14‑year‑old girl shot on her balcony. The interim government has promised protection and prosecutions for large‑scale sectarian violence, but many incidents remain unsolved and families are fleeing, fearing the killings are intended to provoke forced emigration and community breakdown. Mixed neighbourhoods that once coexisted under the Assad era now face mounting distrust and insecurity, as reported by BBC