Syria sentences two to death over coastal violence
Shafaq News- Aleppo
Syria’s Military Criminal Court in Aleppo sentenced two defendants to death on Thursday over their involvement in the March 2025 coastal violence, imposing prison terms on several others and acquitting two.
During the hearing, the court sentenced Al-Waddah Ismail and Maher Ali to death after convicting them of offenses involving incitement to civil war and sectarian fighting, and leading armed groups formed to attack government forces. Maher Al-Othman received a 12-year prison term for participating in those offenses.
Mohammed Bakour, a member of the Defense Ministry’s 82nd Division, was handed a 20-year sentence for intentional murder, while Ammar Abdul Aal, of the 54th Division, received three years. Captain Shannan and Khaled Al-Muhaimid, also affiliated with the 54th Division, were each sentenced to two years, while Mahmoud Shaheen received two months for causing bodily harm.
Abdul Raouf Bakr and Mohammed Louay Zarzouri were acquitted.
The rulings followed an earlier round of verdicts in the same case on Sept. 17, 2026, which included a death sentence, prison terms, and an acquittal.
▪️ محكمة الجنايات العسكرية في حلب تجرّم المتهمين الوضاّح اسماعيل، وماهر علي بجنايتي الاعتداء الهادف إلى إثارة الحرب الأهلية والاقتتال الطائفي، وتَولّي قيادة عصابات مسلحة بقصد مهاجمة القوى العامة، وتجرم المتهم ماهر عثمان بالتدخل في الجنايتين المذكورتين. ▪️ المحكمة تحكم بالإعدام على المتهمين الوضّاح إسماعيل وماهر علي، وبالسجن 12 عاماً على المتهم ماهر عثمان. #سانا
— الوكالة العربية السورية للأنباء - سانا (@Sana__gov) October 15, 2026
Background To The Coastal Violence
The case stems from violence that erupted along Syria’s coast in March 2025, when former-regime loyalists launched coordinated attacks on army and security positions on March 6, killing 238 personnel, according to Syria’s National Commission for Investigation and Fact-Finding.
The commission documented 1,426 civilian deaths but attributed subsequent abuses against civilians to individuals and small groups acting for different reasons, rather than an organized or systematic campaign.
A Reuters investigation, however, found that government-aligned forces and armed groups carried out mass killings in Alawite-populated areas between March 7 and 9, documenting nearly 1,500 deaths across more than 40 locations and tracing chains of command toward senior authorities in Damascus.
A subsequent UN Commission of Inquiry concluded that both forces aligned with Syria’s new government and armed groups loyal to the former Al-Assad government likely committed war crimes.
The civilian killings disproportionately affected Syria’s Alawite community, the minority sect to which the Al-Assad family belongs.
