Security forces in Syria have battled gunmen loyal to deposed President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s coastal region for a second day, with dozens of people reported killed in the deadliest violence since opposition fighters toppled the regime last year.
Hasan Abdel-Ghani, spokesperson for the Syrian Defence Ministry, told Al Jazeera that fighters loyal to al-Assad on Thursday attacked security forces in several places in Latakia and Tartous governorates that are home to the Alawite minority sect to which the al-Assad family belongs, killing “a number of security forces” in well-planned operations.
Authorities have not issued a death toll, but war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Friday that more than 130 people had been killed during two days of fighting. Among the dead were security forces, gunmen and civilians, it said.
Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify the death toll.
The violence spiralled on Thursday when the authorities said groups of Assad-aligned militias targeted security patrols and checkpoints in the Jableh area and surrounding countryside, before spreading more widely.
On Friday, gunmen loyal to the government stormed the villages of Sheer, Mukhtariyeh and Haffah near Syria’s coast and killed dozens of men, according to the SOHR.
The Beirut-based Al Mayadeen TV said more than 30 men were killed in Mukhtariyeh after they were separated from women and children.
Syrian state news agency SANA, citing a security source, said “individual violations” had been perpetrated after large, unorganised crowds had headed to the coastal region following the attacks on government security personnel.
“We are working to stop these violations,” the source said, without giving details.
Al Jazeera’s Omar Al Hajj, reporting from the city of Tartous, said authorities had lost control in several neighbourhoods after the “rebellions”, but “reinforcements … from different provinces and districts” had carried out a “huge security operation” in Tartous, Latakia and Banias.
Latakia’s police chief told Al Jazeera that the city was secured on Friday afternoon, and a siege on military and security sites had been lifted. Meanwhile, clashes continued elsewhere.
Curfews were declared on Friday in the coastal cities of Tartous and Latakia, according to SANA.
The violence has shaken interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s efforts to consolidate control as his administration struggles to get United States sanctions lifted and grapples with wider security challenges, notably in the southwest where Israel has said it will prevent Damascus from deploying forces.
Peace ‘threatened’
Groups of people gathered Friday outside the main Russian air base in Syria near the town of Jableh, asking for protection from Moscow.
Russia intervened in Syria’s war in 2015, siding with al-Assad, although it has since opened links with the new authorities after his fall.
Al-Assad has been living in Moscow since leaving Syria in December as the opposition offensive neared Damascus.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Moscow was ready to coordinate “de-escalation” efforts with foreign partners.
She urged “authoritative Syrian leaders who can influence the development of the situation on the ground to do their utmost to put an end to the bloodshed as soon as possible”.
Iran, a longtime backer of al-Assad, warned on Friday that violence in Syria could cause regional instability, state media reported.
“Iran strongly opposes insecurity, violence, killing and harming innocent Syrians from every group and tribe, and sees it as a catalyst for regional instability,” spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei was quoted as saying.
Neighbour Turkiye on Friday warned against “provocations” in Latakia province, saying they threatened peace.
“Such provocations must not be allowed to become a threat to the peace of Syria and our region,” Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Oncu Keceli wrote on X.
Alawite activists say their community has been subjected to violence and attacks since al-Assad fell, particularly in rural Homs and Latakia.
While al-Sharaa has pledged to run Syria in an inclusive way, no meetings have been declared between him and senior Alawite figures, in contrast to members of other minority groups such as the Kurds, Christians and Druze.
Under al-Assad, members of the Alawite community held top posts in the army and security agencies. The new government has blamed his loyalists for attacks against the country’s new security forces over recent weeks.
