The first trial of more than a dozen suspects linked to massacres that left hundreds dead in Syria’s Alawite coastal heartland earlier this year began on Tuesday, according to media report.
The massacres in March, which authorities say broke out after attacks by supporters of the ousted president, Bashar al-Assad, against their forces, left at least 1,426 people dead, most of them civilians, according to a national commission of inquiry.
Seven men, including former military personnel, accused of attacking government forces, and seven members of the forces loyal to the new Islamist authorities, appeared in court.