section_path: Violence and massacres/March/9 March
section_name: 9 March
paragraph_text: 9 March
  
  According to the SOHR, 303 civilians were reported to have been killed on 9 March by the security forces, Ministry of Defense personnel and allied forces, with 103 in Tartus Governorate, 194 in Lataika Governorate, and six in Hama Governorate.
  
  On the morning of 9 March, several reported atrocities took place in Taanita and Al-Qadmus near the city of Tartus. Roughly a dozen Alawite villages in Hama Governorate had been evacuated and deserted. A doctor in a hospital in Al-Qadmus reported receiving several cases with gunshot wounds and shrapnel -related injuries, and that whole families had been "wiped out" by the Syrian government's massacre. State authorities positioned a military convoy in the vicinity of Al-Qadmus.
  
  The Syrian Ministry of Interior stated that additional security reinforcements were sent to the Tartus countryside, reporting that the General Security Department was conducting combing operations around Al-Qadmus and settlements surrounding Tartus Governorate against pro-Assad holdouts. The state-owned Syrian Arab News Agency posted pictures showing forces leaving Idlib Governorate to fight against Assad-linked remnants. The Syrian Ministry of Defense stated that it closed all roads between coastal Syria and other regions to prevent further transgressions.
  
  At Hammam Wasel in the Baniyas countryside, SOHR reported significant military movements by government forces entering the area. Tanks were deployed on the town's outskirts, accompanied by artillery shelling and gunfire, creating several fires in many areas. These operations reportedly triggered fires in several areas of the town and caused panic among local residents. During a state-implemented curfew, Beit Al-Ateiq village experienced artillery bombardment by the Military Operations Command, resulting in the burning of residential structures. Several additional areas in the Tartus countryside suffered from "heavy bombardment" using tanks and drones. The attacks particularly concentrated along the Al-Qadmus-Baniyas highway and in several specific locations including Ta'nita. During rescue calls made during the bombardments, residents of Hammam Wasel and Beit Al-Ateiq reportedly exclaimed that their villages were not concertedly pro-Assad.
  
  Multiple locations in Latakia province were subjected to Military Operations Command bombardment, with SOHR documenting military operations in Barmiya, Al-Hattaniyah, Al-Ruwaymiyah, Al-Rumaylah, Muzayraa, Al-Quayqah, and Mazar Al-Qatariyah. Several drone strikes were reported in mountainous and forested areas, suggesting that authorities suspected these regions of serving as hideouts or transit routes for militant groups. SOHR said that several residents made distress calls through human rights monitoring organization, pleading for security forces to protect them. SOHR described government bombings as "indiscriminate"
  
  The number of civilian deaths in Sanobar was reported to have increased to at least 133.