Stones and dried rushes were planted on the mounds of earth and branches were laid down as ornaments. They marked the burial place of the inhabitants of al-Sanobar killed during the massacres perpetrated in this Alawite village on the Syrian coast, from March 7 to 9, 2025. In the mass grave next to Sheikh Ali's mausoleum, local religious figure Hassan (his name was changed for security reasons) said he and other villagers had buried 120 people in four trenches.

A video filmed at this location on March 11 showed the trenches still gaping. Along the road, dozens of bodies lay wrapped in blankets. "We transported the bodies in blankets because they were in an advanced state of decomposition. Some were no longer identifiable after lying in the houses and streets for three days. It took us three days, with the 10 or so men left in the village, and three cars," said Hassan.

The 30-year-old former soldier claimed that a total of 250 residents from al-Sanobar were buried in mass graves and private gardens. This figure could not be independently verified. Residents had drawn up a list of victims, but they had not been registered either by the General Security forces (the police force set up by the new government), who assisted them with the burial, or by the Syrian Red Crescent, which rushed through the village.

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