DAMASCUS, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Ten people were killed by unidentified gunmen in an Alawite-majority village in central Syria, a Britain-based war monitor said Saturday.

The assailants knocked on doors in the village of Arza in the central province of Hama on Friday night, shooting civilians at close range using silenced firearms, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The perpetrators fled the scene, and their identities remain unknown. Authorities have yet to comment on the incident.

The SOHR said the latest massacre is part of a growing wave of retaliatory attacks and killings across the country, which could further destabilize intercommunal relations in post-war Syria.

Since the beginning of 2025, the SOHR has documented at least 105 such incidents, which left over 200 people dead, including five women and a child.

The attack in Arza underscores lingering security concerns as Syria's new administration seeks to consolidate control and prevent a descent into further sectarian violence following the downfall of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Enditem

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