Fact Check: Video of Muslims crawling and barking like dogs shared with misleading claim
After Alawite fighters attacked Syrian patrol police, the military launched an operation in coastal region, killing hundreds including civilians.
Ahmed al-Sharaa led Syrian transitional government’s forces ended the military operation on March 10, 2025 after delivering a violent blow to the insurrection by remnants of the ousted President Bashar al-Assad's former government in the country’s western coastal region.
Reports indicate that hundreds were killed during military actions and ‘revenge killings’ in the cities of Latakia and Tartus, as well as in clashes with Assad’s loyalist fighters. According to a UK-based independent monitoring group, which monitors casualties in Syria, at least 779 fatalities have been recorded during last week's military intervention.
As violence spiraled in Alawite towns and villages, Syrian security forces were accused of carrying out retaliatory attacks against minority members following a deadly ambush attack on a security patrol team, allegedly carried out by members of the minority Alawite community.
Amid widespread criticism and demands for accountability over the reported killing of hundreds of civilians in reprisal attacks, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced that a seven-member independent committee would be formed to investigate these extrajudicial killings and bring the culprits to justice.
Meanwhile, a video is going viral on social media claiming Syrian Muslims from minority communities are being forced to crawl on their stomachs and bark like dogs in reference to their allegiance to the ousted President Bashar al-Assad.
The video has gone viral on WhatsApp and the accompanying text is:
Claim in Hindi: " सीरिया में अराजकता बढ़ने के साथ ही मुसलमान दूसरे मुसलमानों को कुत्तों की तरह रेंगने और भौंकने पर मजबूर कर रहे हैं।
सिया बनाम सुन्नी "
(As Syria battles violent clashes, some Muslims are forcing other Muslims to crawl on the ground and bark like dogs, promoting sectarianism in the country.)
The viral claim link is here.
Here’s the screenshot of the viral post.
Fact Check:
During the investigation, the Telugupost fact check team found the claim of sectarian rift to be misleading.
What happened before the Syrian military operation?
The article reported that Alawite gunmen had launched a deadly ambush against the police force of the General Security Directorate near the town of Jableh, 30 km from Latakia city, in which 13 officers were killed and many others wounded.
Firstpost also reported on the clashes in Syria. You can find the news report on the violent incident on their official YouTube channel.
Later, the Syrian government launched air and ground attacks on pro-Assad gunmen in the country's north-west coastal region. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), these operations have resulted in dozens of deaths. It said about 40 civilians were reportedly killed in retaliatory attacks in the Al-Mukhtariyah area of Latakia.
“The Syrian army shared images on social media showing dozens of captives taken from the deposed regime forces being dragged on the ground,” the Turkish news portal said quoting Syrian news agency SANA.