Fear and Loss: Alawite Women Face Abductions Amid Syrian Turmoil

Abeer Suleiman, a 29-year-old Alawite woman, found herself embroiled in a terrifying ordeal when she vanished from Syria's Safita streets on May 21. A WhatsApp caller chillingly informed her family she was gone for good. Subsequently, kidnappers demanded a $15,000 ransom, threatening murder or trafficking into slavery.

According to interviews with families and local reports, Suleiman is just one of at least 33 Alawite women and girls abducted or missing amid Syria's recent upheaval following Bashar al-Assad's fall. The U.N. Commission of Inquiry is now investigating these cases, which have besieged Alawite heartlands like Tartous, Latakia, and Hama.

These distressing incidents reveal intensified targeting of Alawites, a minority under siege since Assad's removal. Such disappearances, often occurring in broad daylight, have reshaped daily routines in affected regions, with many women and girls avoiding schools and public spaces due to fear of abduction.

(With inputs from agencies.)