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Deaths in Syria Tied to Alawite-Sunni Rift
(New York Times) Nada Bakri - The Syrian government has been enlisting thousands of plainclothes security men, known as shabiha, to help quell dissent. Most are Alawites, and resentment against them runs high: many accuse them of killing thousands of unarmed civilians. On Sunday, residents of Homs, Syria's second-largest city, discovered the mutilated bodies of three Alawites who were armed government loyalists. News of the deaths enraged other Alawites, who went on a rampage. Three people were killed, including a mother of three, and scores of shops owned by Sunnis were burned and vandalized.