The Council of the European Union on Wednesday issued sanctions against those it deemed responsible for the mass killing of civilians in Syria's coastal region in March.
They include a group affiliated to the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army called the Sultan Murad Division, which is also accused of attacking Kurdish communities.
The council said it would “continue monitoring developments on the ground, and stands ready to introduce further restrictive measures against human rights violators and those fuelling instability in Syria”.
More than 1,700 people were killed in attacks mostly against the Alawite community, which is associated with the clan of former president Bashar Al Assad.
The proposal for punitive measures had been made on March 17 by Jean-Noel Barrot, the French Foreign Minister. France has said that it expects Syrian leaders to punish those responsible as one of the conditions for continued support of the country's new leaders and not solely focus on the crimes of the former regime.
The SNA is a coalition of pro-Turkish militias formed in 2013, during the Syrian civil war which killed more than half a million people and ravaged the country.
Two other pro-Turkish militia groups were listed by the council: the Hamza Division and the Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade. The latter claims to have more than 2,000 fighters, mainly Turkmen.
The two groups' leaders, Syrians Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr and Muhammad Hussain Al Jassim, were also listed.
The Hamza Division has been responsible for several acts of torture in its detention centres, for extortion and for forced displacement of civilians, especially in the region of Afrin and Aleppo, said the council.
The Sultan Murad Division participated in operations attacking Syria’s Kurdish community and the Syrian Democratic Forces, using torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and the ill-treatment of prisoners.
A series of attacks by pro-government militias on the Alawite and Druze minorities has rocked Syria in recent months.
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio blamed the renewed violence on the legacy of Mr Al Assad.
“They are dealing with deep internal distrust in that country, because Assad deliberately pitted these groups against each other,” Mr Rubio said after meeting Syria's transitional leaders.
The EU council extended the list of individuals and entities linked to the Assad regime until June 1. It also adopted legal acts formalising a decision to lift economic sanctions on Syria, one week after EU foreign ministers agreed to do so.
The council removed 24 entities from the EU list of those in Syria subject to the freezing of funds and economic resources. They include the central bank and other institutions expected to play a vital role in Syria's economic recovery.
“This decision is simply the right thing to do, at this historic time, for the EU to genuinely support Syria’s recovery and a political transition that fulfils the aspirations of all Syrians,” the EU's foreign affairs minister Kaja Kallas said.
“Today, the EU reaffirms its commitment as a partner for the transition, one that helps the Syrian people to reunite and rebuild a new, inclusive, peaceful Syria.”
US President Donald Trump has also announced the lifting of sanctions on Syria, ending more than a decade of diplomatic freeze.
