DAMASCUS (Reuters) – New Syrian authorities launched a crackdown on Thursday in a coastal area the place 14 law enforcement officials had been killed the day earlier than, pledging to pursue “remnants” of Bashar al-Assad’s ousted authorities accused of assault, state media reported.
The violence in Tartous province, part of the coastal area that’s dwelling to many members of Assad’s Alawite sect, represents the deadliest problem but to the Sunni Islamist authorities who ousted him from energy on December 8.
The brand new administration’s safety forces launched the operation to “monitor safety, stability and civil peace, and to pursue remnants of Assad’s militias within the woods and hills” in rural areas of Tartus, the official SANA information company reported.
Members of the Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, have wielded monumental affect in Assad-led Syria, dominating the safety forces he used towards his opponents throughout the 13-year civil struggle, and to crush dissent throughout many years of bloody oppression. by its police state.
Reflecting sectarian tensions, demonstrators chanted “Oh Ali! throughout a rally in entrance of the native authorities headquarters in Tartous, pictures posted on social media on Wednesday confirmed. Reuters has verified the situation of the pictures.
The track referred to Ali ibn Abi Talib, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad revered by Muslims however held in notably excessive esteem by Alawites and Shiites, who imagine Ali and his descendants ought to have led the Islamic group.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the previous al-Qaeda affiliate that led the insurgent marketing campaign that toppled Assad, has repeatedly pledged to guard minority spiritual teams, who worry the brand new leaders will search to impose a conservative type of Islamist authorities.
SANA reported that Mohammed Othman, the brand new governor of the coastal area of Latakia which borders the Tartus area, met with Alawite sheikhs to “encourage group cohesion and civil peace on the Syrian coast.”
PROTEST FOR MEN
Syria’s Data Ministry mentioned it had banned what it described as “the circulation or publication of any media content material or info with sectarian connotations geared toward sowing division” amongst Syrians.
The Syrian civil struggle has taken on sectarian dimensions as Assad has relied on Shiite militias from throughout the Center East, mobilized by his ally Iran, to struggle the insurgency dominated by members of the Sunni Muslim majority , lots of whom are Islamists.
Dissidence additionally surfaced within the metropolis of Homs, 150 km north of Damascus. State media reported that police imposed a nighttime curfew on Wednesday night, following unrest over protests that residents mentioned had been led by members of the Alawite and Shiite spiritual communities.
Pictures posted on social media from Homs on Wednesday confirmed crowds of individuals dispersing, and a few of them operating, as gunshots had been heard. Reuters has verified the situation. It was not clear who opened fireplace.
Iran, Assad’s longtime Shiite regional ally, has criticized the course of occasions in Syria in current days.
On Sunday, Iranian Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei known as on Syrian youth to “oppose with agency dedication those that orchestrated and prompted this insecurity.”
Khamenei predicts “{that a} sturdy and honorable group can even emerge in Syria as a result of right this moment Syrian youth don’t have anything to lose,” calling the nation insecure.
New Syrian International Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani mentioned in a social media publish on Tuesday that Iran should respect the desire of the Syrian folks and Syria’s sovereignty and safety.
“We warn them towards the unfold of chaos in Syria and we maintain them chargeable for the repercussions of their newest feedback,” he mentioned.
Lebanon mentioned on Thursday it hoped to keep up one of the best neighborly relations with Syria, in its first official message to the brand new administration in Damascus.
Lebanese Hezbollah, backed by Iran, performed a serious function in supporting Assad throughout the civil struggle, earlier than bringing its fighters again to Lebanon final yr to struggle in a lethal struggle with The occupying Zionist entity – a redeployment that weakened the strains of the Syrian authorities.
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