"Former Syrian Diplomat and Brother Assassinated Amid Increasing Violence and Revenge Attacks"

Former Syrian diplomat Noureddine al-Labbad, who switched allegiance and defected from the service of the previously ruling president Bashar al-Assad, has been killed along with his brother by unidentified gunmen in southern Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the armed assailants entered al-Labbad's residence in the town of Al-Sanamayn, located approximately 50 kilometers south of Damascus, and opened fire before escaping.

According to the monitor, al-Labbad had just returned to Syria two weeks before the attack, having earlier represented the Syrian opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, in France. His defection from al-Assad's Foreign Ministry had taken place back in 2013. The attack resulted in widespread unrest within Al-Sanamayn, causing cars to be burned and grenades detonated, prompting authorities to impose an overnight curfew. However, police lifted restrictions by the following morning as normal activities gradually resumed.

Details surrounding the assassination remain sparse, although acts of tribal violence and revenge killings have noticeably risen after Assad's downfall in December. Teasing even broader unrest, the Observatory stated that at least 1,383 civilians, primarily from Assad’s minority Alawite sect, recently lost their lives along Syria’s Mediterranean coast, where brutal incidents were reported, including entire families being executed.

Such violence has drawn sharp international criticism. Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, former leader of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), vowed to investigate and prosecute those responsible for civilian deaths, establishing a fact-finding committee to address human rights violations. The European Union commended this move, urging accountability and condemning violence by pro-Assad factions and transitional security forces alike.

Witness testimonies painted a grim picture of the violence, describing mass murders and bodies collected using bulldozers for hasty burials. Human Rights Watch stated that multiple armed groups infiltrated areas such as Latakia and Tartus provinces, originating from different regions across Syria, notably Idlib and territories under the influence of Türkiye-backed factions. Additionally, foreign jihadist fighters from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Chechnya were reportedly part of the violence but have since been expelled by Syrian authorities aiming to stabilize the region.

Human rights groups stressed the importance of impartial accountability, emphasizing that even the newly integrated security apparatus, which includes elements of the former HTS, must face justice if implicated in crimes.