On the morning of November 19, 2025, a large fire broke out in the Old Garage Market in the city of Tartous in western Syria, leading to the burning of about 18 commercial shops that were selling vegetables and fruits, causing significant material damage.
These shops were owned by people from the Alawite community, who depended on them as a primary source of livelihood. Local sources reported the spread of the smell of diesel in the stores after the fire broke out, which led them to believe that the fire had been deliberate. They also expressed doubts about the official narrative that attributed the incident to an “electrical short circuit.”
This incident comes within a context of escalating sectarian violence in the Syrian coastal areas, which have witnessed systematic killings and kidnappings targeting members of the Alawite community in the period following Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s assumption of power.
