Alawite schoolteacher killed amid wave of sectarian attacks

An Alawite schoolteacher was killed in the Al-Walid neighbourhood of Homs, Syria, on the evening of 25 October after an unknown assailant on a motorbike threw a hand grenade at her family home.

Reham Hammouda, a mother of two, died in the attack, while her relative, Sarah Mouhammad Hamidoush, was severely injured. The police have not been able to identify the assailant.

Local residents complained to CSW sources of a lack of police action, with some accusing the police and local authorities in Homs of being complicit in attacks targeting the Alawite minority.

This attack is the latest in a wave of sectarian killings of members of the Alawite community in Homs and across the country. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 57 people died in similar attacks during the month of October. Nineteen of these killings occurred in Homs, and a child was among the victims. 118 Alawites have been killed since the beginning of 2025.

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘CSW extends heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of Reham Hammouda, and we wish Sarah Mouhammad Hamidoush a full and speedy recovery. The scale of loss being experienced by Alawite families in Homs is staggering. We call on the Syrian government to step up efforts to combat sectarian incitement and violence and to take allegations of complicity within the security apparatus very seriously. These incidents should be properly investigated and perpetrators brought to justice. We also urge the international community, especially the UK and the US, to press the Syrian government on issues related to human rights and combating sectarianism, making the lifting of sanctions conditional on introducing measurable improvements in these fields.’