Survivors of the 2013 Baniyas massacre in Syria have broken their silence, sharing harrowing accounts of the atrocities committed by the Bashar al-Assad regime, reports Anadolu Agency. Visiting the village of Beyda in the Baniyas district of Tartus, Anadolu captured the lasting scars of the massacre 11 years later.
The massacre unfolded during the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011 after the Assad regime violently suppressed protests demanding freedom. On May 2, 2013, regime forces, including the Shabiha militia, intelligence units, military police, and the Political Security Office, surrounded Beyda village and unleashed one of the war’s most heinous massacres.
Civilians were herded into the village square, where men were confined to a small phone shop, while women and children were locked in nearby homes overlooking the square. Regime forces executed them en masse, burning their bodies inside the buildings.
The killings continued the next day, May 3, as soldiers raided homes, murdering anyone they found. Those who managed to escape early were the only survivors. Horrifying methods of execution were used, including dragging villagers tied to vehicles.
The regime also sought to blame opposition forces, forcing Sheikh Omar, a respected local leader, to provide a false confession on camera. When he refused, they killed him and his family.
Experts and academics describe the massacre as a calculated regime strategy to incite sectarian conflict and rally its supporters through a narrative of survival.
For the first time since the regime’s fall, survivors of the massacre have shared their stories. Anadolu Agency documented the burned homes where civilians were executed.
As survivors continue to seek justice, the scars of the Baniyas massacre remain a stark reminder of the Assad regime’s brutal atrocities.
