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'You Alawite pigs': account of March attacks in Syria

Rindala Douba is a British-Syrian and a member of the minority Alawite community in Syria. She and her family were living on Syria's Mediterranean coast when in early March 2025 armed factions affiliated with Syria's new government carried out reprisal attacks against Alawite civilians, in response to what the government claims was a coordinated uprising against its rule. Speaking to Newshour's Tim Franks, she gives an account of those events; how wary optimism after the fall of the Assad dynasty led to disillusionment and fear for her community; President Trump's embrace of the Syrian interim leader Ahmed Al Sharaa, and whether it was the right time to lift the crippling economic sanctions imposed on Damascus.

(Photo: Rindala Douba looking out over Syria's Mediterranean coast)

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25 minutes

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