Deadly clashes in Syria: authorities must ensure journalists' safety and the public’s right to reliable information
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Syrian government to guarantee the safety of reporters and their right to inform the public about the violent massacres that have taken place on the Mediterranean coast. The population must have access to independent, professional and diverse information sources capable of contributing to the ongoing political transition.
At least five journalists were targeted and injured while covering violent clashes between government forces and factions loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad on Syria’s Mediterranean coast. According to one tally by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), at least 800 civilians have been killed, primarily members of the Alawite minority, to which the former president belongs. This latest cycle of violence, which began on 6 March, has intensified the heavy pressure already plaguing the Syrian press, which operates in an increasingly tense, polarised environment with limited capacities due to decades of repression.
Accused of having participated in the attacks against civilians overall, the new administration has blamed the "systematic attacks against journalists" specifically, on "the remnants of the former regime". In a statement from the Ministry of Information, it promised to take legal measures to "guarantee the freedom of journalistic work and protect media professionals."
The new Syrian administration must protect journalists and guarantee the public’s right to reliable information. Attacks on the press deprive citizens of this right and make them vulnerable to manipulation. What’s more, Syria is in a crucial transition period that’s being jeopardised by proliferating disinformation. RSF calls on the authorities to ensure reporters can work freely across the entire country and to hold those who attack journalists accountable, regardless of their political affiliation. The great hopes for a free press following the fall of Assad’s dictatorship must not be short-lived.
On 6 March, near the port city of Latakia, Al Jazeera reporter Riyad al-Hussein was shot while in the passenger seat of a car with a colleague. Both were clearly identifiable as journalists by their press helmets and vests. Riyad al-Hussein managed to film the shooting and shared it on Facebook.
Four days later, Mustafa Kahtan, a journalist for the Qatari channel Al Araby, reported being targeted by gunfire while driving to Latakia to cover the conflict. In a Facebook post published shortly after the incident, he and his colleague appear wearing bulletproof vests marked "press," showing the damage their vehicle suffered. "We were targeted twice," he stated in the video. "The first shot came through the car's roof. Then another bullet hit the front windshield, followed by a third."
Journalist Saleh Alfars from the media outlet Radyo Delal also reported an attack two days earlier when his car was shot at on the road leading to the city of Banias. The shooters ordered him to put down his weapons. "I said I was a journalist and had no weapons," he said in a video. The journalist recounted how he was taken to an apartment, detained and subjected to threats of torture and execution. He said he was released when his captors fled as the clashes flared up again.
Worries of a forgotten promise
In January 2025, following the Minister of Information’s promise to improve press freedom in the country, RSF published seven recommendations for the newly established government. Among them was the protection of journalists across the entire territory and the prevention of attacks against them. After the regime’s fall in December, RSF also called for an end to impunity for crimes committed against journalists and for Bashar al-Assad to be brought to justice. The ousted president and his allies are accused of killing 181 reporters since the revolution began in 2011 — part of the atrocities that caused Syria to rank second-to-last out of 180 countries in the 2024 RSF World Press Freedom Index.
