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The Alawite Engineer Killed After Torture and Brutal Detention in Syria
The body of engineer Majd Khalil, a member of the Alawite community from the village of Harif in the Misyaf countryside of Hama, and residing in the Sumeria neighborhood in Damascus, was found in the city of Sownin in the northern countryside of Daraa, two days after he was abducted while returning from his work at the government transportation directorate.
Reports indicated that the engineer’s body showed signs of severe torture, in addition to multiple gunshot wounds scattered across his body, suggesting that he was subjected to a planned execution following brutal torture. The body was transferred to Sownin Hospital by locals amid widespread security alert in the area.
In a related context, a source revealed that the engineer was subjected, last month, to inhumane practices by members of an armed faction led by the so-called Abu Huzayfah, involving arbitrary arrests, beatings, sectarian insults, and humiliation tactics in a growing pattern of violence and revenge outside the law.
This incident comes amid increasing retaliatory acts, including killings, kidnappings, and abuses against civilians and officials, as security forces are unable to control the security situation. Since the beginning of 2025, the number of non-legitimate victims has risen to 1,072 across various Syrian regions, including 1,019 men, 32 women, and 21 children.
Victims are distributed across regions as follows:
- Damascus: 49 cases (48 men, one woman), including 25 linked to sectarian affiliation
- Rural Damascus: 95 cases (93 men, two women), including 19 sectarian
- Homs: 345 cases (319 men, 17 women, 9 children), including 218 sectarian
- Hama: 232 cases (221 men, 7 women, 4 children), including 145 sectarian
- Latakia: 98 cases (88 men, 4 women, 6 children), including 76 sectarian
- Aleppo: 93 cases (all men), including 4 sectarian
- Tartous: 74 cases (72 men, one woman, one child), including 57 sectarian
- Idlib: 21 men
- Sweida: 6 men, 4 sectarian cases
- Daraa: 50 cases (49 men, one child), including one sectarian case
- Deir ez-Zor: 9 men
These escalations reflect the ongoing security chaos and violent practices targeting civilians and government employees, highlighting the institutions' inability to impose control amid widespread revenge and extrajudicial killings.
