On the evening of Tuesday, October 21, 2025, armed men described as members of the de facto authorities’ militias, riding a motorcycle, opened fire on two girls near the Workers’ Stadium in the Akramah neighborhood of Homs. Both girls sustained extremely critical injuries and were reportedly undergoing resuscitation efforts. Reports subsequently emerged that one of them had died, having suffered injuries so severe that she was declared clinically dead.

This incident reflects a dangerous and ongoing escalation of sectarian violence targeting Alawites, without distinction between women, men, or children.

The two girls, Haneen Raslan (14) and her sister Ghazal Raslan (13), are from the village of Al-Dhahabiyah, west of Homs. Contrary to claims circulated by some social media pages, they are not from Palmyra (Tadmur).

The sisters are orphans who lost their father several years ago. They live in a rented basement in the police housing complex and depend on charitable donations and assistance from their neighbors to survive. Their lives, already marked by poverty and deprivation, have now been overshadowed by gunfire—as though pain were all that fate had reserved for them.

This incident comes amid a growing wave of killings, abductions, forced displacement, and starvation targeting Alawite civilians in public spaces. Meanwhile, international actors and human rights organizations remain largely silent, issuing statements that fail to translate into meaningful action on the ground. The world watches as victims are buried, while perpetrators move freely, seemingly beyond the reach of the law.

We call on human rights organizations and the international community to stop standing by as grave abuses against civilians unfold before their eyes. We demand swift, independent investigations, accountability for those responsible for these sectarian crimes, and that the de facto authorities be held directly accountable for the killings, any involvement in them, and the climate of impunity that allows such crimes to continue.

This is a crime whose alleged sectarian dimension must not be ignored: the victims are Alawite girls, and there are serious concerns that their sectarian identity may have played a role in their targeting. There must be no excuses, no evasion of responsibility, and no minimization of the crime. If the international community remains uncertain about the nature of what is happening, the documented incidents, victims, and dates demand serious scrutiny and an impartial investigation.

#Waheed_Yazbek — October 21, 2025