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No checkpoint is the same, some want paperwork, others wave you through after a brief look inside – but from Damascus to Latakia, there are a lot of checkpoints, and in one way or another, you are checked every time.

It wasn’t like this just a month or two ago, but it is now after the most violent few days the country has seen since Bashar al Assad was forced from power in December last year.

We drove through cities like Jableh, on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, almost unrecognisable now.

The bustling streets, markets and shops are silent, apart from the sirens of passing General Security convoys – their armed soldiers packed on the back of pick-up trucks.

The debris of battle is everywhere, buildings are burnt out and peppered with bullet holes, glass from smashed shopfront windows spills across the pavement and spent machine gun casings litter the streets.

DESTRUCTION IN JABLEH
SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features:
Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies
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Cities like Jableh, on Syria’s Mediterranean Coast, are almost unrecognisable now

DESTRUCTION IN JABLEH
SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features:
Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies
Image:
The debris of battle is everywhere after pro-Assad militia attacked the city

After three months of relatively peaceful times, things have dramatically changed here, all because of the events of 6, 7 and 8 March.

A Thursday, Friday, and Saturday that could determine Syria’s future.

Driving out of Jableh and over a bridge, we pass through another checkpoint, then through a deserted village, home to a community of Syrian Alawites. Shops and homes are destroyed, soldiers guard the roads in and out.

We are on our way to the Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria.

It’s also now home to as many as 10,000 Alawites who are now camping in and around the base.

SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features:
Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies
Image:
The Hmeimim air base is home to the Russian military in Syria

gv  russian airbase
SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features:
Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies
Image:
The site is also now home to as many as 10,000 Alawites camping in and around the area

They are seeking shelter and protection, watched on by Russian soldiers who remain inside.

Some of the thousands are in tents or under makeshift cover, others are sleeping rough or in their cars.

SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features:
Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies
Image:
Thousands of people are in tents or under makeshift cover

SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features:
Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies
Image:
One of many children displaced after her family were attacked by pro-Assad militia

photo label "woman in her car"
SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features:
Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies
Image:
Some are sleeping rough or in their cars

man sleeping in car
SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features:
Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies

I first visited the airbase last December – then it consisted of a small cluster of shops and restaurants, established over years to service the Russian personnel.

Now the shops are shuttered and the restaurants cleared of tables to allow the families to sleep.

As I approached the gates of the base, I was surrounded by people pushing against each other, trying to get to me to tell me stories of being burnt out of their houses, or of family members killed in front of their eyes.

SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features:
Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies
Image:
Crowds gather around Sky’s Stuart Ramsay to describe how their relatives were killed by pro-Assad forces

A young woman pulled me aside. “We need help, international help,” she whispered.

“We need international peacekeepers; my house was on fire.”

Explainer: Who are the Alawites?

The Alawites are a religious minority in Syria, originating from Shia Islam. The overthrown president Bashar al Assad belonged to the sect.

They make up around 10% of Syria’s population, which is majority Sunni, and mainly live in the country’s coastal regions.

During Assad’s reign, the Alawites made up a large part of his support base and held top posts in the army and security agencies.

Since his fall from power, many Alawites were fired from their jobs and some former soldiers who reconciled with the new authorities were killed.

Civilians have now been targeted in revenge killings by Sunni Muslim militants loyal to the new government, who have blamed Assad’s loyalists for attacks against the country’s new security forces in recent weeks.

The Alawites, along with Syria’s other minority communities, including Kurds, Christians and Druze, have said they are concerned about revenge attacks and are not convinced by the new government’s promise of an inclusive country.

In the crowd, I met Adiba Shehaidi. She’s sleeping rough outside the base after escaping her village, Ain al Arous.

“They attacked us, just like that, slaughtered us, our friends, our neighbours, our children, our relatives – our in-laws, all of them, were slaughtered. They stormed the houses, shooting…” she recounted her story of escape.

“What can we say? To the world, what can we say? What was our crime?” she cried.

screengrab from SN Ramsay VT from Syria about attacks against Alawite minority
P 021451MO SYRIA CONFLICT RAMSAY 06 LONG VT4
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People in mourning after killings

SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features: Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies
Image:
Grieving relatives have described how their families were slaughtered

We were told that whole families had been killed with some buried in mass graves.

Not far away from the base, in the village of Al Sanobar – we found one. A mass grave consisting of two trenches, dug under the cover of darkness by villagers. They buried 80 people here.

Sticks had been placed in the earth to signal a body buried beneath. We are told a family of 17 are in one of the graves.

SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features:
Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies
Image:
A mass grave in the village of Al-Sanobar

SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features:
Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies
Image:
Sticks have been placed in the earth to show where a body is buried

Further into the village, we came across a group of men digging more graves. They told us they had found the bodies of their families, friends, and neighbours littered on the streets and in houses.

So far, they have buried 223 people, all from this one village.

Map for SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites
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Latakia, on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, is where pro-Assad fighters are accused of killing Alawite civilians

On trucks, the bodies wrapped in blankets and plastic were brought to their final resting place near their homes. Under a blistering sun a simple ceremony is held, then side by side they are buried.

These families have been devastated – their anguish obvious.

Read more:
Alawites take refuge from Syrian army
Government forces clash with Assad loyalists
Syria vows to investigate mass killings

Convoys of government security forces are now constantly patrolling all the areas where the killings took place, and they are trying to encourage the Alawites to return to their villages, saying it is now safe.

SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features:
Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies
Image:
Convoys of government security forces are patrolling all the areas where the killings took place

The head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate, told me what happened here was unacceptable and must not happen again.

He explained how Assad loyalists had attacked and killed soldiers, police officers, and civilians – filming it and posting it on social media. This, he said, led to “undisciplined groups” arriving to this part of Syria, acting “outside of the Ministry of Defence’s command”.

 head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate
SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features:
Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies
Image:
The head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate, tells Sky’s Stuart Ramsay that Assad loyalists were to blame for the killings

 head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate
SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features:
Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies
Image:
Kunefate: What happened was unacceptable and must not happen again

“Among these groups were some with a questionable intent, many arrived with no clear instructions, simply coming to break the siege on the Ministry of Defence personnel and police,” Mr Kunefate told me.

“This resulted in chaos and a breakdown of discipline among the fighting groups that entered the coastal region.”

The scene of some of the worst fighting happened in the city of Jableh when the pro-Assad militia attacked. Much of the centre of town has been badly damaged in the fighting, and it is tense.

SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features:
Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies
Image:
Security convoys patrol cities like Jableh, badly damaged during fighting with pro-Assad forces.

General Security convoys constantly patrol the city, home to Sunni civilians who were murdered like their Alawite neighbours.

Imad Bitar’s father Talal died after his car was fired upon by Assad fighters.

I met him in their family home where he told me he wants peace but believes it will only happen when Assad’s fighters are captured.

Imad Bitar whose father Talal died after his car was fired upon by Assad fighters.
SN eyewitness from Stuart Ramsay about Syrian Alawites which features:
Hmeimim air base, home to the Russian military in Syria; mass grave in Al-Sanobar; head of General Security, Mustafa Kunefate; various GVs of locals and case studies
Image:
Sunni civilians in the city of Jableh were also murdered by pro-Assad fighters, including Imad Bitar’s father Talal

“We must find a way to live together, our only demand now is for the remaining factions to leave Syria and for those responsible for the regime’s crimes to face a formal trial. It’s not about sectarian divisions, it’s about justice.”

This has been a difficult time for the new government trying to unite Syria.

The massacres of Alawites at the hands of militia puts President Ahmed al Sharaa’s unity project in jeopardy.

But if there is a positive from that dreadful weekend, it is that the government acknowledges the mistakes and is promising to bring those responsible to justice.

The World with Yalda Hakim at 9pm on Sky News will feature a series of special reports on Syria from our chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay and special correspondent Alex Crawford.

Watch their latest report inside Al-Hol camp, where thousands of families affiliated to the former Islamic State group are being held by Kurdish forces in northeast Syria.

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Crew welcomed into International Space Station to replace astronauts stranded for nine months

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Crew welcomed into International Space Station to replace astronauts stranded for nine months

A crew has entered the International Space Station (ISS) to replace the astronauts who were stranded there for nine months.

A SpaceX capsule delivered four astronauts on Sunday on a mission to allow Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams – who have been on the ISS since June 2024 – to return home.

The Dragon craft, with the Crew-10 astronauts inside, docked with the orbiting laboratory at 4.04am UK time, around 29 hours after it had been launched on the top of the Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Butch Wilmore (back row centre) and Suni Williams (back row right) celebrate with the rest of the astronauts replacing them on the International Space Station.
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Butch Wilmore (back row centre) and Suni Williams (back row right) celebrate with the rest of the astronauts replacing them on the International Space Station.

pic: nasa
Image:
The replacement crew, including Russia’s Kirill Peskov (centre), were welcomed on board the International Space Station (ISS). Pic: NASA

NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, both military pilots, along with Japan’s Takuya Onishi and Russia’s Kirill Peskov, both former airline pilots, will spend the next six months at the space station.

Their mission will allow four members of Crew-9, which includes Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams, to return to Earth.

Astronauts on the ISS say they have requested ballot papers for the US election
Image:
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore during their unplanned nine month stay in space.
File pic: NASA/AP

It took several minutes for Dragon to safely dock at the ISS, in what is an automated process.

But there was about 1 hour and 45 minutes of additional safety checks before the hatch could be opened.

More on International Space Station

Mr Wilmore swung open the space station’s hatch and rang the ship’s bell as the arrivals floated in one by one and were greeted with hugs and handshakes.

How they were stranded

Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams originally planned to go to space for just eight days but got stuck on the station after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft started experiencing problems.

Technical issues left them stranded, and various attempts to bring them home were unsuccessful.

The craft encountered so many problems that NASA insisted it return to Earth empty, leaving the pilots behind until now.

‘You can hardly even put it into words’

“It was a wonderful day. Great to see our friends arrive,” Ms Williams told Mission Control after the new astronauts had been welcomed aboard.

The moments after docking with Suni Williams, centre, finally facing the prospect of returning back to Earth.
Pic: NASA/AP
Image:
The moments after docking with Suni Williams, centre, finally facing the prospect of returning back to Earth.
Pic: NASA/AP

The Astronauts, including Japan's Takuya Onishi, greeting one another after arrival on the International Space Station.
Pic: NASA/AP
Image:
The astronauts, including Japan’s Takuya Onishi, greeting one another after arrival on the International Space Station.
Pic: NASA/AP

Speaking after the successful docking, Ms McClain added: “Crew-10 has had a great journey up here and I cannot tell you the immense joy of our crew when we looked out the window and we saw the space station for the first time.

“That is such an amazing journey. You can hardly even put it into words.”

Still of dragon capsule edging towards ISS before it docks. Pic: NASA
Image:
The dragon capsule was manoeuvred towards ISS before it docked. Pic: NASA

Rendezvous, Docking, Hatch Opening and Welcoming Remarks of the NASA/SpaceX Crew-10 Crew at the International Space Station Pic: NASA
source: NASA TV
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The view from the ISS as the Dragon capsule edged closer and docked. Pic: NASA

The journey back to Earth

The four newcomers will spend the next few days learning the station’s ins and outs from Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams.

Then the two of them will strap into their own capsule later in the week, one that has been up there since last year, to close out the unexpected extended mission.

The pair’s ride back arrived in late September with a downsized crew of two and two empty seats reserved for the leg back.

Rendezvous, Docking, Hatch Opening and Welcoming Remarks of the NASA/SpaceX Crew-10 Crew at the International Space Station Pic: NASA
source: NASA TV
Image:
The Dragon capsule safely docked with the International Space Station. Pic: NASA

But more delays emerged when their replacements’ brand new capsule needed extensive battery repairs.

An older capsule took its place, pushing up their return by a couple of weeks to mid-March.

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Weather permitting, the SpaceX capsule carrying them and two other astronauts will undock no earlier than Wednesday and splash down off Florida’s coast.

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At least 51 dead after nightclub fire in Kocani, North Macedonia

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At least 51 dead after nightclub fire in Kocani, North Macedonia

At least 51 people are reported to have died in a fire at a nightclub in North Macedonia.

The blaze broke out while a local pop band was performing at around 2.35am on Sunday in the town of Kocani – allegedly after fireworks were set off inside the venue, interior minister Panche Toshkovski told a news conference.

Although the public prosecutor’s office said the “number of victims and injured in the fire is being determined” – 100 people are thought to have been injured, Mr Toshkovski said.

They are being treated at Kocani General Hospital, where relatives have gathered to await more information, newspaper Nova Makedonija said.

The country’s prime minister Hristijan Mickoski is travelling to the scene, it added.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

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Nine Palestinians killed, including three journalists, in Israeli airstrike, Gaza health ministry says

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Nine Palestinians killed, including three journalists, in Israeli airstrike, Gaza health ministry says

An Israeli airstrike in Gaza has killed at least nine Palestinians, including three local journalists, the territory’s health ministry has said.

The strike hit a car, with casualties inside and outside the vehicle, and several people were critically injured, according to officials in the Gaza Strip.

Six volunteers from the Al Khair Foundation were “deliberately targeted” and killed while on their way to deliver aid in the northern town of Beit Lahia, said the UK-based international non-governmental organisation (NGO).

Among the six were the three journalists – Mahmoud al Sarraj, Mahmoud Isleem, and Bilal Abu Matar – who were recording humanitarian relief efforts for those affected by the war in Gaza, the foundation said.

The other three victims have been named as Bilal Akeela, Mohammad al Ghafir, and Hazem Gharib.

The foundation said: “The first strike injured one team member, prompting them to move away, but a drone followed them and struck their vehicle directly with a second strike, killing them all.”

What has Israel’s military said?

In a statement, the Israeli military said it had struck two individuals who it identified as “terrorists” operating a drone that it said posed a threat to forces in Beit Lahiya.

The military later struck several other suspects who it said had collected the drone equipment and entered a vehicle.

The military did not say how it had established that the individuals it had struck were “terrorists” or provide details about the threat that the drone had posed to its troops.

Gaza official denies army’s claims

Salama Marouf, the head of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, denied the Israeli army’s allegations.

“The team was made of civilians and worked in an area near a shelter on a mission sponsored by a charity. They didn’t exist in a prohibited area and didn’t pose any danger of any kind to the occupation army,” Marouf said in a statement.

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Thousands call for longer ceasefire deal for hostages

Saturday’s incident underscores the fragility of the 19 January ceasefire agreement that halted large-scale fighting in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian health officials say dozens of people have been killed by Israeli fire despite the truce.

The airstrike coincided with a visit to Egypt’s capital Cairo by Hamas’s exiled Gaza chief, Khalil al Hayya, for further truce talks aimed at resolving disputes with Israel.

Read more:
Israel accused of ‘genocidal acts’ against Palestinians in UN report
Palestinian officials say Israel kills eight in Gaza and five in West Bank

The militant group has accused Israel of attempting to renege on the ceasefire agreement, putting the number of Palestinians killed since 19 January, it says, at 150.

Hamas urged mediators to compel Israel to move ahead with the implementation of the phased ceasefire deal, blaming Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the current impasse.

What next for ceasefire deal?

The temporary first phase, where Hamas released dozens of Israeli hostages in return for around 1,500 Palestinian prisoners being freed from Israeli jails, expired on 2 March.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
File pic: AP/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool
Image:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. File pic: AP

But Israel says it wants to extend the first phase, a proposal backed by US envoy Steve Witkoff.

Hamas says it will only resume freeing hostages under the second phase.

Israel has rejected opening the second phase of talks, which would require it to negotiate over a permanent end to the war, which is Hamas’s main demand.

The war began when Hamas militants carried out a cross-border raid into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing around 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials.

Israel responded by launching an air and ground offensive in Gaza which has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, say Gaza health officials.

The Gaza health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but said more than half of the fatalities were women and children.

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