Bashar Assad’s forces are driving away Sunnis from residential districts in Homs to replace them with ethnic Allawites, according to a prominent member of the Syrian National Council (SNC). The regime forces have reportedly combed Homs districts in recent months to track down opponents. The planned cleansing took place in several Sunni districts of the city: Karam Al-Zaitoun, Karam Al-Louz, Adwiya, Mureeja, Wajab Al-Jandali, Tadmur, Bab Al-Dareb and Zahra, the official said, adding that all Sunnis were driven away from some of these districts.
Muhammad Al-Turkawi, a leading member of the Council of Arab Tribes and a member of the SNC, said the regime has thrown out Sunnis as part of its efforts to establish an Allawite state, extending to the Syrian coast, as a last line of defence. “The Syrian regime wants to deepen racial hatred among people in order to protect itself. At the same time opposition groups demand peaceful coexistence of all groups of people,” Al-Turkawi was reported as saying.