In the worst outbreak of unrest since Syria’s transitional government took power, hundreds of people have been killed or wounded in clashes between the security forces and supporters of former President Bashar al Assad this week, according to a human rights monitoring group.
The clashes broke out Thursday in the Latakia and Tartous regions on the Mediterranean coast, areas where support among Syrian Alawites for Assad was strong and which has seen outbreaks of sectarian violence over the past three months.
More than 225 people have been killed since Thursday in the clashes, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said on Friday.
At least 100 Syrian government “security personnel” are included in the death toll, the UK-based independent human rights monitoring group said, while 125 civilians were killed when joint forces from Syria’s Ministries of Defense and Interior “launched a large-scale security operation in dozens of villages across the countryside of Latakia, Tartous, and Hama.”
The Assad family, members of the minority Alawite sect, ruled Syria for over half a century until Assad was ousted late last year by Sunni Islamist militants who sought to reshape the country’s political and sectarian order.
Syria’s Alawites – some 10% of the population – were prominent in the Assad regime, and while many Alawites have surrendered their weapons since December, many others have not.
The latest surge in violence highlights the challenges Syria’s new regime faces in appeasing disenfranchised groups, especially those that remain heavily armed.
Syria’s transitional president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, vowed in a televised speech on Friday to pursue those responsible for killing dozens of Syrian security personnel. He also urged security forces to “ensure no excessive or unjustified responses occur” following reports of many civilian casualties during clashes.
Syria’s interior ministry also said earlier on Friday that they are standing “at the threshold of a critical phase that demands awareness and discipline.”
The official Syrian news agency SANA said that after several police and security personnel had been killed, “large, unorganized crowds moved toward the coast,” citing an official with Syria’s Ministry of Interior.
Anas Khattab, head of Syrian intelligence, said that “former military and security leaders affiliated with the defunct regime were behind the planning and execution of these crimes.”
He said that the “treacherous operation” had claimed the lives of “dozens of our finest men in the army, security, and police.”
Khattab added: “To those who failed to heed our earlier warnings: you have been deceived by malicious hands into doing what you are doing today,” blaming individuals outside Syria.
Social media videos published since Thursday apparently show extensive casualties among both Syrian security forces and young men in civilian clothing.
Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Hassan Abdel Ghani said Friday that “senior war criminals” were “scattered in the mountains with no refuge except the courts, where you will face justice.”
“Do not become fuel for a lost war… The choice is clear: surrender your weapons or face your inevitable fate,” he said, addressing other Assad supporters.
Other social media footage from Friday showed substantial military reinforcements converging on the area. The city of Tartous has been placed under curfew until Saturday.
The videos indicate that the security forces reached the coastal city of Jableh, near the Russian airbase at Hmeimim, and showed clashes and columns of smoke rising from near the base.
Other videos showed government forces entering Al-Qardaha, the home town of the Assad family, amid explosions and columns of smoke. An official with the defense ministry confirmed later on Friday that security forces carried out operations “against the remnants of the former regime,” in Al-Qardaha, according to SANA. And one video geolocated to the coast near Jableh showed improvised bombs being dropped from a military helicopter.
The Syrian Interior ministry issued a statement Friday urging “all civilians to stay away from military and security operation zones.”
It said all military and security units had been ordered “to strictly adhere to established procedures and laws to safeguard civilians.”
Syria’s Health Ministry said that six hospitals in the rural areas of Latakia and Tartous had come under attack on Thursday night by pro-Assad elements, resulting in several deaths.
Abdul Rahman Taleb, a Latakia-based activist and journalist, said he was attacked by Assad loyalists on Thursday while he was covering clashes with the Syrian security forces.
“We were besieged for about 12 hours in one of Latakia’s neighborhoods, with remnants of militants spreading all around us. I didn’t expect we’d make it out alive,” Taleb said.
He added he had been sheltered by other Alawites in the area “until the first reinforcements arrived and evacuated us.”
The violence has sparked pro- and anti-government demonstrations in several Syrian cities.
Saudi Arabia, a strong backer of the new government, condemned what it called “crimes committed by outlaw groups” in Syria.