Sonobar

Sonobar — named for the pine forests covering its hills — sits in the Jableh countryside. Stone houses, agricultural terraces, and a quiet rural life. In March 2025, armed groups advanced through the forested terrain surrounding the village, using the same tree cover that had long defined its landscape as concealment for the assault. At least 260 Alawite civilians were killed. Families who fled into the pine woods to escape were pursued through the trees. Those who could not run — the elderly, mothers with young children, the sick — were left in homes that became killing grounds. Human rights organizations cited Sonobar as one of the clearest examples of the March massacres' character: a rural community far from any front line, targeted solely because of its residents' religious identity. The bodies of the martyrs were later recovered from homes, roadsides, and the forest floor.