UN commission finds violence against Syria Alawites likely included ‘war crimes’

A UN commission investigating sectarian bloodshed in Syria’s Alawite heartland documented systematic violence at the hands of government forces and allied groups, warning Thursday that some of the acts could constitute war crimes.

The violence in March unfolded along Syria’s predominantly Alawite Mediterranean coast, where security personnel and their allies were accused of carrying out summary executions, mostly targeting civilians from the religious minority, with a war monitor saying more…