More and more videos of violence towards Syrian residents are appearing online. The wave of horrendous footage gives reason to conclude that a civil war is starting in the country. The groups that came to power are in conflict with each other, and their confrontation will intensify when dividing the territories and resources of the former state. In addition, without an army and police, ethnic and confessional conflicts have intensified - the settling of old scores is resulting in a real massacre.

As the new Syrian authorities are trying to establish control over the cities and provinces of Syria, a wave of videos of executions and torture of residents of the republic has flooded the Internet. It was also reported that Bashar al-Assad's cousin was allegedly executed because he was "connected to Bashar by family ties and the blood of millions of Syrians," RT reports.

Later, the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, said that the Kremlin had no information about Suleiman's fate. "Of course we are closely monitoring everything that is happening in Syria. We will continue to watch very carefully, definitely, and proceed based on the realities developing on the ground," he said.

Nevertheless, videos of shocking content appear on the Internet. For example, in one video, militants shoot hospitalized government soldiers. In another, they drag a half-dead man along the road with ropes. In a third, they beat a soldier in the presence of his mother. And there are dozens of similar videos that appeared in the last 24 hours alone.

Experts warn that some videos may have been deliberately posted on social media. "At least some of them are from earlier events of the civil war," orientalist Kirill Semenov notes. However, according to him, in most cases, the reprisals are carried out by spontaneously formed local groups that were able to gain access to weapons.

 

According to Semenov, the situation "could turn into a massacre of religious minorities." For example, "all Alawites are called "accomplices of the regime" and they are all in danger," while in Damascus and Aleppo "it seems to be relatively calm, and the "armed opposition" is carrying out repressions "in an orderly manner," but no one can be sure that they will not come for him." 

Meanwhile, Bloomberg, citing its sources, writes that Russia allegedly convinced Bashar al-Assad to flee Syria and organized his departure so that he would not repeat the fate of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. In the fall of 2011, Gaddafi was captured by terrorists and killed after torture. 

By the way, on Wednesday it became known that an armed crowd burned the grave of the father of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his hometown of Qardah in Latakia province. In the same place, next to Hafez al-Assad, his eldest son Basil was buried, and Hafez al-Assad's wife, Anisa Makhlouf, was also buried there.

In this context, the EU also started talking about the danger of chaos in Syria. Thus, the head of European diplomacy Kaja Kallas stated that it is "in everyone's interests" that post-Assad Syria does not slide into a new civil war and does not give rise to another refugee crisis. She called on the new authorities of the country not to follow in the footsteps of Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. 

 

However, cases of lynching and reprisals will be observed increasingly often, since many in Syria want to settle scores with each other, believes Dmitry Bridzhe, an expert at the Center for Arab-Eurasian Studies. "This is because there is no government, no institutions, no order: the country was left without an army and police and found itself in a deep crisis," he says.

The power was gained by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, a terrorist organization banned in Russia). They want to show themselves as supporters of democracy, but Syria's future remains unclear, the expert added. "If Assad had directly handed over power to the opposition, the situation would have been much simpler. But when the power is seized by military groups that have not been involved in politics, but only in military operations, they do not understand what a court is. They are used to addressing any problem with weapons. Therefore, we will increasingly see cases of lynching," Bridzhe said.

As for the prospects for the development of the conflict within Syria, most groups are afraid of HTS, but this situation may change. "Thousands of militants, including ISIS members (banned in Russia), have been released from prison. Now they will become significantly stronger," military expert Yuri Lyamin believes.

Much will also depend on the economic situation in the country: if the new government fails to rectify the situation, this will weaken the position of HTS. "The Kurds (oriented towards the US), who are currently opposing the Syrian National Army (SNA), may oppose them. The regions of northeastern Syria and oil fields remain under the control of the Kurds. This is money," Lyamin explained.

Another possible line of confrontation is the conflict between HTS and the SNA, the expert said. There had already been clashes between them in previous years. But a conflict like this is not so likely in the near future, since both sides depend on Turkey, which will most likely try to calm down the situation.

"In addition, there are groups in the south of the country that have been at peace for a long time, but recently rebelled. They likely want to participate in the division of power, too. But for now they are clearly afraid of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, because they have little strength. That is, much will depend on how much HTS can strengthen its capability in the coming weeks,” Lyamin explained.

The situation is particularly difficult in Latakia, the place of residence of Alawites, who were the basis of Bashar al-Assad’s power. Key Russian military bases are also located there. “There is a potential hotbed of conflict in Latakia. But the Alawites are now very demoralized. The entire army was disbanded, the president fled, this has undermined their morale,” he noted.

The expert added that large militant forces have entered Latakia, and extrajudicial reprisals against former military personnel are taking place in the region. “It is still unclear whether the Alawites will be able to gather strength. There is ground for armed uprisings there. The new authorities understand this, so they will try to suppress any dissent, and in the most harsh and demonstrative way,” Lyamin concluded.