I recently published an article profiling the ongoing security and sectarian challenges in Hama’s al-Ghab region. That article focused on the small strip of villages in the central al-Ghab plains just west of Qalaat al-Mudiq. But the dynamics at play there extend all the way south to the edge of the Masyaf District, encompassing the large Alawi town of Salhab.
Salhab should be familiar to many long-time Syria researchers. More than half of the town’s men served in the security forces at some point during the war, and the town was home to the famous Alawi Sheikh Shaaban Mansour. Sheikh Mansour was frequently pictured alongside senior regime army and militia commanders throughout the war, fueling opposition ire against Salhab.
Following the fall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024, Salhab has endured recurring bouts of violence, largely framed around discriminate or indiscriminate revenge. Sheikh Mansour and his son were killed by armed Sunnis as part of these revenge campaigns on March 7, 2025, part of a broader mobilization that day which resulted in the killings of 13 men in the town.
Since March 2025, Salhab has had an unsteady, though gradually improving, relationship with both the government and neighboring Sunnis. But while such extreme violence has not returned, there continues to be problems of harassment and armed theft on the town’s outskirts.
I spent several days in Salhab this spring meeting with activists, locals, and community leaders to learn more about these dynamics. Below is a transcript of part of an interview I conducted with one family presenting their perspective on security and economic challenges and the current state of trust building.