A key factor sustaining the regime thus far has been the cohesion of the Alawite community. So long as this group viewed the survival of the al Assad clan as synonymous with its own survival and the Alawite-dominated military, security and intelligence apparatus stood behind the al Assads, the regime had considerable staying power. However, there are early indications that the Alawite community is fracturing over the question of al Assad's survival as the rate of attrition escalates and families' willingness to tolerate the losses decreases. The Alawites in Syria are composed of four tribes: Matawira, Khayyatin, Haddadin and Kalbiyya. The al Assads, who belong to the Numailatiyaa clan of the Matawira tribe, hail from the northwestern village of Qardaha, near the coastal city of Latakia.