Clashes between Syrian security forces under the country’s new, Islamist authorities and gunmen loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s western coastal region have killed more than 70 people and left an area outside government control, a war monitor said Friday.
The clashes, which erupted on Thursday and appear co-ordinated across the coastal region, were a major escalation and a challenge to the new government in Damascus, where the former insurgents now in power have pledged to unite Syria after 14 years of brutal civil war.
Overnight, Damascus sent reinforcements to the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartus, as well as nearby towns and villages — the heartland of Assad’s minority Alawite sect and his longtime base of support — trying to get the situation under control, state media reported.
It was the worst violence since Assad’s government was toppled in early December by insurgent groups led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. Since then, there have been some sectarian attacks against minority Alawites, though the new authorities say they won’t allow collective punishment or sectarian vengeance.
Under Assad, Alawites held top posts in the army and security agencies. The new government has blamed his loyalists for attacks over the past weeks against the country’s new security forces.
Large numbers of troops were seen Friday morning in Latakia, where a curfew that was imposed in the city and other coastal areas remained in force. Members of the security force said there were minor clashes in one of the city’s neighbourhoods, but most of Latakia was calm and under government control.
Monitors say dozens have died
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said 35 members of Syrian government forces, 32 fighters loyal to Assad and four civilians have been killed.
The Observatory’s chief Rami Abdulrahman said the outskirts of the coastal towns of Baniyas and Jableh were still under control of Assad loyalists, as was Assad’s hometown of Qardaha and many Alawite villages nearby.
A Qardaha resident told The Associated Press in a text message that the situation “is very bad.” The resident, who asked that his name not be made public fearing for his safety, said government forces were firing with heavy machine guns in the town’s residential areas.
Another resident, who also spoke on condition of anonymity fearing for his safety, said that they have not been able to leave their home since Thursday afternoon because of the intensity of the shooting.
Gregory Waters, an associate fellow with the Middle East Institute who has researched Syria’s coastal areas, said he doesn’t expect the flareup to escalate into sustained fighting between the two sides. However, he said he was concerned it could stoke cycles of violence between different civilian communities living along the coast.
Also, any violations by the security forces sent from Damascus on the armed groups would leave young Alawite men more fearful of the new government — and more prone to take up arms, Waters said.
Abdulrahman, of the Observatory, said the clashes started when government forces tried to detain a wanted person near Jableh and were ambushed by Assad loyalists.
People ask Russia for help
Scores of people gathered Friday outside the main Russian air base in Syria near Jableh, asking Moscow for protection. Russia joined Syria’s conflict in 2015, siding with Assad, although it has opened links with the new authorities after his fall. Assad has been living in Moscow since leaving Syria in December as the offensive by the former insurgents neared Damascus.
Asked about the outbreak of fighting in the coastal region and possible threats to Russian troops, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded that “security of our military is ensured on a proper level.”
“I wouldn’t comment on the operational situation as we don’t know details,” Peskov said during a conference call with reporters.
Syria’s conflict started in March 2011 and has left more than half a million people dead and millions displaced.
Nabil Hawara fled to Canada as a refugee after spending two decades in the notorious prisons of Syria’s Assad regime — first headed by Hafez al-Assad and then his son Bashar, who was ousted by rebels on Dec. 8. Hawara says the torture he endured throughout his imprisonment included guards jumping on his back, breaking several of his rib bones and causing permanent lung damage.
