Supporting Assad, himself an Alawite, was a matter not of loyalty or politics for this community, the regime insisted, but of choosing between existence and extinction. This narrative, and the fear of Sunni extremist groups such as the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, kept many Alawites bound to Assad even as the cost became unbearable.

Amid an outcry for justice and accountability and threats online, a once-dominant group is feeling deep anxiety after the ouster of Syria’s dictator.

Syria's ousted dictator Bashar Assad and his family were members of the secretive religious minority, and used the community's fears and desires to stay in power.

The toppling of Bashar Assad has raised tentative hopes that Syrians might live peacefully and as equals after a half century of authoritarian rule.

Families of military officers who served under Syria's ousted Bashar al-Assad are being evicted from their subsidised housing at a compound outside Damascus to make way for victorious former rebels and their families,