Warning: This story contains graphic details.
Hundreds of civilians were reportedly killed in clashes between Provisional Government forces and pro-Assad regime loyalists. But what happens in the shadows is far away, and killings (in some cases, summary executions in fields and villages) have been widely circulated: usually first posted on telegraph groups and widely shared on social media.
Content gives a glimpse of what is happening on the ground During the ongoing civil war in Syria. Human rights investigators are competing to collect and analyze all content – in some cases, before the perpetrator is removed or removed by the social media censorship system. Collecting and analyzing videos is a key step in establishing the factual basis and the basis for future investigations or accountability efforts.
“For us, it’s very important to do this quickly because automated content adjustments can often eliminate harmful or graphic lenses, even if there is no report, if it is just automatically marked as violent content that could violate the platform’s policies,” Benjamin Strick, director of Investigation at the UK-based Centre for Information Diseases (CIR), told CBC News, CBC News, CBC News.
“Even with something on the weekend, we’re seeing an increase in violence being eliminated.”
Verify killing
CIR has launched a new project to document violence in Syria, including targeting civilians in response to the recent killings that began with fighter planes loyal to the ousted Assad regime, which were overturned in December 2024 and reportedly ambushed government forces last week, killing civilians. The battle was caught in a revenge killing committed by government and non-governmental forces of the Alavian religious minority population, even though they are Syria’s second largest religious group – former President Bashar al-Assad belongs to the group.
Several human rights groups have been released, combining official figures, witness testimony and videos verified from social media to articulate what is happening. These include Syrian Human Rights Network,,,,, Human Rights Watchand Syria Center for Justice and Accountability (SJAC).
Strick said collecting and verifying the killing videos posted to social media can help separate the truth from false statements. Many videos Distribute online After the violence, the recent violence has been shown.
Verification videos also give the public basic insight into what really happens in the killing movement, where the victims may not have filmed the video, but the perpetrators did not.
“It’s really about determining what’s going on on the ground,” Strick said.
CBC News’ visual investigation team worked with SJAC (a non-governmental organization whose stated goal is “meaningful justice and responsibility for Syria”) to verify the authenticity of three videos circulating online and collected dozens of videos that have not yet been verified.
CBC News reporters collected videos, some of which were shared. Using the reverse search tool and analyzing them to identify uniforms and badges, the team determined that the video had not been shared before. We shared these uniforms, patches and badges with SJAC researchers, which confirmed the CBC’s findings and added details.
CBC News only displays static parts of the video because of their graphic nature. The victims in the video have not been determined yet.
In one person, gunmen in Syrian Public Safety Force uniforms dragged people in civilian clothes into an alley before firing. Five corpses can be seen in the video. Another gunman in black can be seen photographing the body with a phone. Shared photos Syria’s state-owned news agency pointed out that at least one of several men arrested for participating in extrajudicial killings appeared in this video.
In the second video, a group of men in black uniforms decorated with Syrian flags dragged a man into a ditch beside the road, beat him with a rifle, and then shot him. The camera pot reveals a truck covered with the badge of Syrian security forces.
In one third, two men opened fire on a corpse on the ground, moving in an instant. They were dressed in fatigue and patches, and seemed to be the seal of the prophet’s badges worn by various Islamic militias in the country. At least one body is visible – it is not clear whether they are alive or dead.
Arrests of government forces
According to a statement issued by the Syrian Human Rights Network (SNHR), 172 security, police and military forces were killed by Assad and combatants during the violence. The group said there were at least 211 civilians, including humanitarian workers, in the direct shootings carried out by these groups.
“This is just a panic pattern, calling on armed groups and anyone who can join in support of the government,” Noura Aljizawi, a senior researcher at the Citizen Laboratory of the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, told Canada Bureau of Information.
Then he killed someone on the coast. Witnesses told the Associated Press that the Alaves were shot dead on the streets and on the doors of the house. Witnesses said Alavet’s house was also burned and plundered. In a preliminary report, the SNHR said a consistent government group was responsible for the deaths of 420 civilians and disarmament fighters, including 39 children and 49 women.
The United Nations is urging Syria’s interim leaders to protect civilians in the battle between security forces and those loyal to the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Former Army personnel have been coordinating attacks and ambushes since Thursday.
CBC News cannot independently verify these numbers. The UN said it has verified 111 civilian killings as the process is underway.
Syria’s interior ministry said on Tuesday that it had arrested four people in connection with the attack on civilians. A television report by the Lebanese News Agency also showed that two other men had been arrested and linked them to videos circulating online, in which two men found another man in civilian costume on a motorcycle and played him, which looked random.
Identify crimes from social media
Aljizawi told CBC News that videos posted online by armed groups were the key to identifying crimes in the past.
“Many of the atrocities we identified were through videos and photos they took and posted on social media,” she said. “This is not unique to the Syrian conflict.”
Among the videos distributed online, there are earlier killing videos from this week.
“Usually, there is a level of publicity that surfaces online to downplay, discredit or just undermine what happens locally,” Cir’s Strick said.
Algissavi said the false information helped to further divide Syrians because pro-Assad forces could claim that the actions were undertaken by the new interim government, while others could use the videos to deny that it was atrocities first.
“It’s hurting the victims. It’s hurting the community. It’s hurting this very vulnerable, very critical transition. It’s not absolutely not helping to achieve peace or any sense of stability in the country.”
