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 mentioned 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 passed off a number of cities after a video exhibiting 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 affirm if the curfew has been lifted.
The inside ministry mentioned 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 mentioned that the violence was carried out by unknown teams, including whoever was circulating the video now seemed to be looking for to incite sectarian strife.
State media reported that residents of Homs mentioned that demonstrations within the metropolis had been led by members of the minority Alawite and Shia Muslim spiritual communities.
Some residents mentioned the demonstrations had been linked to stress and violence in current days aimed 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 notably within the Alawite heartland of Latakia and Tartous, in addition to Homs and Aleppo.
Hashem mentioned the brand new administration has introduced big reinforcements to safety forces to attempt to cut back stress within the areas.
“Yesterday, late at evening, there have been high-level conferences of the brand new administration about methods to transfer ahead, and one of many choices is a crackdown on what they describe to be remnants of the outdated regime, members of the Fourth Division, [which] was the elite presidential guard loyal to Maher al-Assad, brother of the previous president,” he mentioned.
“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 demise 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 spiritual teams, who concern for his or her rights below the brand new administration.
Various persons are believed to be killed and wounded in a separate assault by the previous regime forces within the coastal area, in keeping with the inside ministry.
