Hama was affected by the March 2025 violence targeting mostly Alawi communities in Coastal and Western Central Syria,605 during which civilians were killed among others in western rural Hama.606 Security incidents with a sectarian background targeting Alawi607 and Christian608 communities in their predominantly inhabited areas609 continued to be reported through the reference period, including targeted killings of civilians.610 In one prominent case that occurred at the end of March 2026, a mob of at least 100 Sunni men passed a MoI security checkpoint611 and set fire to and attacked properties belonging to Christians in the Orthodox town of Suqaylabiyah. This was preceded by a dispute between local Christians and two Sunni men,612 visiting from a neighbouring Sunni town.613 The violence was ended by state forces, who were eventually able to expel the crowd from the city.614 Referring to this incident, sources questioned the capability615 and willingness of state forces to intervene effectively in sectarian violations.616 Furthermore, several homicides with a retaliatory background occurred.617 SOHR also documented ‘repeated incidents’ of theft, robbery and looting in rural western Hama governorate,618 as well as casualties in connection with the proliferation of weapons among civilians.619
- 605
UN Human Rights Council, Violations against civilians in the coastal and western-central regions of the Syrian Arab Republic (January–March 2025), A/HRC/59/CRP.4, 11 August 2025, url, para. 1
- 606
SNHR, 803 Individuals Extrajudicially Killed Between March 6-10, 2025, 11 March 2025, url pp. 5-6, 11; Etana Syria, Brief: Armed Clashes & Sectarian Violence on Syria’s Coast, 8 April 2025, url
- 607
SOHR, Sectarian-base strife | Armed attack targets civilian in Hama countryside, 7 May 2026, url; SOHR, Sectarian-driven crime | While working on farmland | Two young men ki*lled over sectarian background in western Hama, 3 April 2026, url; SOHR, Ongoing security chaos | Alawite young man executed and another injured in Hama, 30 December 2025, url; STJ, Syria/Hama: Armed Intimidation and Sectarian Discourse, Marking the First Anniversary of the Assad Regime’s Fall, 4 February 2026, url; International Crisis Group, Restoring Security in Post-Assad Syria: Lessons from the Coast and Suweida, 26 November 2025, url, p. 23
- 608
New Arab (The), How attacks on a Christian town test Syria's postwar cohesion, 2 April 2026, url; STJ, Syria/Hama: Armed Intimidation and Sectarian Discourse, Marking the First Anniversary of the Assad Regime’s Fall, 4 February 2026, url
- 609
STJ, Syria/Hama: Armed Intimidation and Sectarian Discourse, Marking the First Anniversary of the Assad Regime’s Fall, 4 February 2026, url
- 610
SOHR, Demanding the control of weapons and the protection of civilians | People go out in protest in Hama, 13 February 2026, url
- 611
Waters, G., Suqaylabiyah's Unrest: What Happened and Why it Matters, Syria Revisited, 3 April 2026, url
- 612
Etana Syria, Brief: Sectarian unrest in Al- Suqaylabiyeh, 7 April 2026, url
- 613
Waters, G., Suqaylabiyah's Unrest: What Happened and Why it Matters, Syria Revisited, 3 April 2026, url
- 614
Etana Syria, Brief: Sectarian unrest in Al- Suqaylabiyeh, 7 April 2026, url
- 615
Waters, G., Suqaylabiyah's Unrest: What Happened and Why it Matters, 3 April 2026, url; Etana Syria, Brief: Sectarian unrest in Al- Suqaylabiyeh, 7 April 2026, url;
- 616
SOHR, Following attack on the predominantly Christian Al-Suqaylabiyah city | Accusations of negligence target Internal Security Forces, 30 March 2026, url
- 617
SOHR, Sectarian-driven crime | Alawite young man killed in Hama countryside, 6 April 2026, url
- 618
SOHR, Amid urgent calls to restore security | Armed robberies and looting operations escalate in villages across Sahil Al-Ghab in western Hama countryside, 31 January 2026, url
- 619
SOHR, Proliferation of weapons | Child dies in Hama countryside, 27 April 2026, url; SOHR, By mistake | Young man killed with gunshot fired by mistake from his brother’s rifle in Hama countryside, 24 February 2026, url; SOHR, Widespread of weapons | Young man shot dead with stray bullet in Hama, 4 February 2026, url