ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Thursday extended the mission of the special investigative committee he formed to probe the violence that claimed the lives of hundreds from Syria’s Alawite minority in early March for an additional three months.
“The committee’s mission has been extended for a period of three months, without the possibility of further extension,” read a statement from the Syrian Presidency.
The statement further clarified that the committee is expected to submit its “final report per schedule,” three months from the decision’s effective date on Thursday.
Violence erupted in early March in the Alawite-majority coastal areas of western Syria after loyalists of ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad launched attacks on security forces affiliated with the new Syrian leadership.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that around 1,500 people, mostly Alawite civilians, were killed in the violence. The UK-based war monitor added that most casualties were caused by government or government-affiliated forces.
In the aftermath of the deadly violence, Syria’s interim President Sharaa in mid-March ordered the formation of an "independent national committee" to "investigate and look into” the causes of the violence in western Syria.
The committee - comprising five judges, a lawyer, and a brigadier general - was tasked with "identifying the causes, circumstances, and details that led to the occurrence” of the bloody events, and was required to submit “its report to the presidency within a maximum of 30 days” of its establishment.
The committee was also tasked with "investigating violations against civilians” and “attacks on public institutions, security personnel, and the military.”
Shortly after the committee’s formation, its spokesperson, Yassir al-Farhan, stated that its members would be “present on the ground and will listen to eyewitnesses,” adding that the committee is “open to international cooperation.”
By late March, Farhan reported that the committee had gathered 95 testimonies and 30 written and audio reports as part of the ongoing investigation. However, he acknowledged that completing the investigation within a month would be “difficult,” hinting at a possible extension for the committee’s mission.
