Alawites formed Syria’s elite. Now they are terrified

THE TREESISISHTSHTSHTSHTSHTSHTSHTSHTSHTSHTS of Khirbet al-Mezzeh are loaded with over-ripe lemons. The hillside village lies near the city of Tartus, in the heartland of Syria’s Alawites, an offshoot of Shia Islam from which the Assads hail. Pictures of Bashar al-Assad, the , were ubiquitous but have vanished. Bearded men in fatigues keep watch at checkpoints. Some wear badges associated with Islamic State (). Their accents are not local—many are from Aleppo, Idlib or Raqqa. Their presence makes the drive to Tartus an ordeal for villagers who fear arrest or violence.The fields along Syria’s Mediterranean coast once produced wheat, tomatoes and olives to feed the country. They were a stronghold of support for Mr Assad. Alawites make up about 10% of but predominated in his regime and that of his father, Hafez. Alawites filled the ranks of the army and security forces. They were part of the business elite. During 14 years of civil war, Syria’s rulers drummed into the Alawites that they would face slaughter at the hands of jihadists like and al-Qaeda if the regime fell.So far, there has been little sign of such retribution by (), the Sunni Islamist group that is largely running the country now. But the Alawites’ Faustian pact with the Assads has still proved a disaster. They received no protection as the regime collapsed. Now many other Syrians harbour simmering resentment towards them. “Assad severely damaged the social cohesion between these communities. Restoring the social fabric will take a very long time,” Murhaf Abu Qasra, the new minister of defence, told last month.Around Latakia and Tartus, has been running operations to capture remnants of the regime, occasionally clashing with army soldiers who have not laid down their guns. Few Alawites shed any tears when killed Shujaa al-Ali, an Alawite gang leader, in December. They do not deny the horror of Mr Assad’s rule. Many claim they were in essence enslaved by him.Infrastructure in Alawite areas is crumbling. Even when Mr Assad was in power, residents enjoyed just two hours of electricity every 12 hours, laments a retired general in Tartus as he heats coffee on a camping stove in his kitchen. Agriculture became unsustainable. “It would cost me 2m pounds ($175) for a 500,000-pound yield,” says an olive farmer who stopped planting his crops four years ago. Men evaded conscription—often a death sentence—by failing exams in order to prolong their studies. Families limited themselves to one child to avoid military service, as only sons were exempt.While is, so far, not as bad as the Alawites feared, the more radical groups terrify them. As city after city fell in the surprise offensive, rushed forces to Damascus. This left a security vacuum in Alawite territory. Other rebels, some backed by Turkey, have filled the gap, taking revenge with looting and kidnappings. Dozens of men, among them students with no ties to the old regime, have been arrested by such groups, which are indisciplined and rarely identify themselves. Locals report that officials, while sympathetic, say they too have no ideas who the perpetrators are.—a group once seen by Alawites as an existential threat—is now viewed as the only force capable of protecting them from extremists. Yet it is preoccupied with running Damascus. “If is to be the government, they must run all of Syria, including security for us,” said a resident of Khirbet al-Mezzeh whose brother was killed last week by one of the other groups. “Everyone here can see that they fall into two categories. Some are very respectful; others are bad, like the devil,” adds the villager.Governing Syria is a different game to running Idlib, the tiny province where Ahmad al-Sharaa, ’s leader, began his transformation from jihadist to Syria’s de facto leader. Will his government allow an entire community to be held responsible for the sins of the Assad regime? Many Alawites were euphoric at the toppling of the Assads. Now they are vulnerable to radicals exploiting the limits of ’s power. Once a favoured minority, Alawites wonder if this new country has a place for them.