Assault comes after police impose curfews following protests prompted by an internet video of an assault on an Alawite shrine.
Members of the Syrian police have been killed in an “ambush” by forces loyal to the ousted President Bashar al-Assad in Tartous governorate within the newest safety problem for the brand new administration that got here to energy a fortnight in the past.
Syria’s new Inside Minister Mohammed Abdul Rahman stated on Thursday that “remnants” of the Assad authorities in Tartous had killed 14 police members and wounded 10 others, vowing to crack down on “anybody who dares to undermine Syria’s safety or endanger the lives of its residents”.
The assault got here as protests came about a number of cities after a video displaying vandalising of an Alawite shrine within the metropolis of Aleppo circulated on-line on Wednesday. Police had imposed curfews in Homs, Latakia, Jableh and Tartous till 8am (05:00 GMT). Al Jazeera couldn’t verify if the curfew has been lifted.
The inside ministry stated on its official Telegram account that the video, which confirmed armed males strolling contained in the shrine and posing close to human our bodies, dated again to the insurgent offensive on Aleppo in late November.
The ministry stated that the violence was carried out by unknown teams, including whoever was circulating the video now gave the impression to be in search of to incite sectarian strife.
State media reported that residents of Homs stated that demonstrations within the metropolis have been led by members of the minority Alawite and Shia Muslim non secular communities.
Some residents stated the demonstrations have been linked to stress and violence in current days geared toward members of the Alawite minority, a sect lengthy seen as loyal to al-Assad, who was toppled by opposition fighters led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group earlier this month.
Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Damascus, described the state of affairs in Syria as extraordinarily delicate now, with flashpoints during the last 48 hours significantly within the Alawite heartland of Latakia and Tartous, in addition to Homs and Aleppo.
Hashem stated the brand new administration has introduced large reinforcements to safety forces to attempt to scale back stress within the areas.
“Yesterday, late at night time, there have been high-level conferences of the brand new administration about the right way to transfer ahead, and one of many choices is a crackdown on what they describe to be remnants of the previous regime, members of the Fourth Division, [which] was the elite presidential guard loyal to Maher al-Assad, brother of the previous president,” he stated.
“However the brand new administration is little bit involved in regards to the potential of a bloody confrontation.”
Assad, who took over as president after his father’s loss of life in 2000, fled to Russia after opposition fighters captured Damascus on December 8, ending greater than 5 many years of Baath Occasion rule.
The nation’s new leaders have repeatedly promised to guard minority non secular teams, who worry for his or her rights beneath the brand new administration.
Plenty of individuals are believed to be killed and wounded in a separate assault by the previous regime forces within the coastal area, based on the inside ministry.
