Gunmen and security forces linked to Syria’s new Islamist rulers have killed more than 340 people, including women and children from the Alawite minority, in the country’s coastal region since Thursday, the head of a war monitor said.

Rami Abdulrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the widespread killings in Jableh, Baniyas and surrounding areas in Syria’s Alawite heartland amounted to the worst violence for years in a 13-year-old civil conflict.

The new ruling authority on Thursday began a crackdown on what it said was a nascent insurgency after deadly ambushes by militants linked to former president Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Several dozen members of the security forces have been killed in heavy clashes with militants, a Syrian security official said.

Officials have acknowledged violations during the operation, which they have blamed on unorganized masses of civilians and fighters who sought to support official security forces or commit crimes amid the chaos of the fighting.

A defence ministry source on Saturday told state media that all roads leading to the coast had been blocked to stop violations and help return calm, with security forces deploying in streets of coastal cities.

The source added that an emergency committee set up to monitor violations would refer anyone found not to have obeyed the orders of the military command to a military court.

The reported scale of the violence, which includes reports of an execution-style killing of dozens of Alawite men in one village, puts into further question the Islamist ruling authority’s ability to govern in an inclusive manner, which Western and Arab capitals have said is a key concern.

Assad was overthrown last December after decades of dynastic rule by his family marked by severe repression and a devastating civil war.

Syria’s interim president, Ahmed Sharaa, while backing the crackdown in a televised address late on Friday, said security forces should not allow anyone to “exaggerate in their response… because what differentiates us from our enemy is our commitment to our values.”

“When we give up on our morals, us and our enemy end up on the same side,” he said, adding that civilians and captives should not be mistreated.

Syrian Facebook on Saturday was filled with images and obituaries of people from the coastal area being mourned by family and friends who said they had been killed.

Abdulrahman, a leading critical voice against the Assad-led government who documented its alleged killings for more than a decade, said: “This is not about being pro or against the former Assad regime. These are sectarian massacres that aim to expel the Alawite population from their homes.”

The defence ministry and internal security agency said on Saturday they were trying to restore calm and order and prevent any violations against civilians in the coastal region.

Six residents of the coastal region said thousands of Alawites and Christians had fled their homes since Thursday, fearing for their lives.

Several hundred, mostly women and children and elders, sought refuge at a Russian Mediterranean military base at Hmeimim in Latakia, according to footage from the scene and two people familiar with the matter.

Abdulrahman and four people in the coastal region who spoke on condition of anonymity said killings, looting and burning of homes had continued overnight in Baniyas and in surrounding villages.

(Reuters) 

China announced tariffs on over $2.6 billion worth of Canadian agricultural and food products on Saturday, retaliating against levies Ottawa introduced in October and opening a new front in a trade war largely driven by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.

The levies, announced by the commerce ministry and scheduled to take effect on March 20, match the 100% and 25% import duties Canada slapped on China-made electric vehicles and steel and aluminium products just over four months ago, Reuters reported.

By excluding canola, which is also known as rapeseed, and was one of Canada’s top exports to the world’s No.1 agricultural importer prior to China investigating it for anti-dumping last year, Beijing may be keeping the door open for trade talks.

But the tariffs also serve as a warning shot, analysts say, with the Trump administration having signalled it could ease 25% import levies the White House is threatening Canada and Mexico with if they apply the same extra 20% duty he has slapped on Chinese goods over fentanyl flows.

“Canada’s measures seriously violate World Trade Organization rules, constitute a typical act of protectionism and are discriminatory measures that severely harm China’s legitimate rights and interests,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.

China will apply a 100% tariff to just over $1 billion of Canadian rapeseed oil, oil cakes and pea imports, and a 25% duty on $1.6 billion worth of Canadian aquatic products and pork.

“The timing may serve as a warning shot,” said Dan Wang, China director at Eurasia Group in Singapore. “By striking now, China reminds Canada of the cost of aligning too closely with American trade policy.”

“China’s delayed response (to Ottawa’s October tariffs) likely reflects both capacity constraints and strategic signalling,” she added. “The commerce ministry is stretched thin, juggling trade disputes with the U.S. and European Union.”

“Canada, a lower priority, had to wait its turn.”

The Canadian embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in August that Ottawa was imposing the levies to counter what he called China’s intentional state-directed policy of over-capacity, following the lead of the United States and European Union, both of which have also applied import levies to Chinese-made EVs.

In response, China in September launched an anti-dumping investigation into Canadian canola imports. More than half of Canada’s canola exports go to China and the trade was worth $3.7 billion in 2023, according to the Canola Council of Canada.

“The investigation on Canadian canola is still ongoing. That canola was not included in the list of tariffs this time might also be a gesture to leave room for negotiations,” said Rosa Wang, an analyst with agricultural consultancy JCI.

Beijing could also be hoping that a change in government in Ottawa makes it more amenable. Canada’s next national election must be held by October 20.

China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner, trailing far behind the United States. Canada exported $47 billion worth of goods to the world’s second-largest economy in 2024, according to Chinese customs data.

“To be honest I don’t understand why they are doing this one at all,” said Even Pay, agriculture analyst at Trivium China.

“I expect Beijing will use the election and change of leader as an opportunity to reset relations as they did with Australia,” she added.

China in 2020 introduced a series of tariffs, bans and other restrictions on key Australian exports, including barley, wine, beef, coal, lobster and timber in retaliation to Canberra calling for a COVID origins probe.

Beijing did not begin lifting the bans until 2023, one year after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ousted Scott Morrison, who had called for the inquiry.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he likely will make his first trip abroad to Saudi Arabia to seal an agreement for Riyadh to invest upwards of $1 trillion in the U.S. economy, including purchases of military equipment.

Talking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he would probably travel there in the next month and a half. He noted that the first overseas trip of his first term was to Riyadh in 2017 to announce Saudi investments estimated then to be worth $350 billion, Reuters reported.

“This time, they’ve gotten richer, we’ve all gotten older,” said Trump.

He said that, at his behest, the Saudis were willing to invest $1 trillion over four years in American companies including purchases of U.S. military equipment.

“And they’ve agreed to do that, so I’m going to be going there, and I have a great relationship with them, and they’ve been very nice,” Trump said.

Saudi Arabia has been taking a more prominent role in U.S. foreign policy. Trump’s Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters the Saudis will host a U.S.-Ukraine meeting next week to discuss a ceasefire in the Ukraine war.

In February, Trump met with officials of the PGA Tour and the Saudi-owned LIV Golf about resolving a rift between the two.

Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and Middle East adviser during his first term, started a private equity firm that received $2 billion in Saudi investment after Trump left office. Trump has also recently presided over a string of announcements about companies investing heavily in the U.S. economy including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Apple.