Sovereignty Support Movement Sovereignty for West Asia
from the News Desk at The Cradle, August 4, 2025
At least 254 people have been murdered in Syria since the beginning of the year, including many on sectarian grounds
The above seems like a ridiculous undercount, but I suppose they are not counting the massacres of Druze and Alawites by government affiliated groups. (SSM Editor)
Renowned actress Diala al-Wadi was found murdered in her home in an upscale Damascus neighborhood, Syrian media reported on 4 August, as killings and kidnappings have exploded across the country since the new government assumed power in December.
Diala al-Wadi, who was based in Syria and held British and Iraqi citizenship, lived in the Al-Maliki district and was considered a prominent figure in Syria’s cultural and artistic scene. She acted in several theatrical productions and television dramas in the past years.
She was also well known as the daughter of respected Iraqi musician Solhi al-Wadi, who founded the Arab Institute of Music in Damascus in 1962 and the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra in 1993.
The Damascus branch of the Syrian Artists’ Syndicate issued a statement mourning her loss.
According to preliminary information obtained by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Wadi’s killer chased her to the entrance of her home, killed her, and stole money and gold jewelry before fleeing.
Also on Monday, the dead body of Maddah Younis al-Nisani, an Alawite van driver from the Al-Sabil neighborhood in Homs, was found with multiple gunshot wounds. He had been kidnapped on the evening of 30 July.
On 2 August, an Alawite man, Azdashir al-Sayyed, was shot and killed by an armed group affiliated with the Syrian government inside his shop on Mahames Street in the Al-Tadamon area of Damascus.
On the same day, Ali Mohammad Dargam, also an Alawite, was shot and killed outside his home in the village of Deir al-Slib near Masyaf. According to reports, gunmen from armed factions affiliated with the Syrian government pulled up on a motorcycle and opened fire on the victim before fleeing.
On 31 July, a Shia man, Jaafar Ibrahim Mahmoud, was killed in the evening in the Sayyeda Zaynab area of Damascus by an extremist group allegedly affiliated with Syria’s new government.
On 29 July, two Druze brothers, Duraid al-Shibli, a communications engineer, and his brother Hashem al-Shibli, were shot and killed in their shop in Barzeh, Damascus. Hashem had recently returned to Syria after living abroad.
Both were originally from Suwayda Governorate, where Syrian government forces and allied tribal and Bedouin militias massacred hundreds of Druze civilians over several days in July.
SOHR adds that 254 people have been murdered in Syria since the beginning of the year, including 200 men, 14 children, and 40 women.
An extremist armed group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), took power in Damascus in December after toppling the government of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Led by Syria’s new President, Ahmad al-Sharaa, HTS advocates the extermination of religious minorities in accordance with the teachings of medieval Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyya.
