Syrian security forces launched a security crackdown on Thursday in an area where 14 police officers were killed the day before in an ambush by supporters of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, state media said.
The new government’s security forces say their objective is to “manage security, stability and civil peace in Tartus province and pursue the remnants of Assad militias in the forests and hills,” SANA news agency reported.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three militants associated with the former regime were killed in the operation.
What do we know about police killings?
Wednesday’s ambush took place in the very same province of Tartus where the new regime’s security forces and a group of Assad supporters clashed, according to the new interior ministry.
The Observatory said it was trying to arrest an Assad regime official whom police identified as Mohamed Kanjo Hassan, one of the “heads of crimes in Saidnaya prison.”
The Saidnaya complex is the site of extrajudicial executions, torture, and enforced disappearances that epitomize the atrocities committed against President Assad’s opponents.
The Observatory said Hassan had “imposed death sentences and arbitrary sentences against thousands of prisoners.”
Hassan’s brother and a group of gunmen intercepted security forces and “laid an ambush for them near the village, targeting one of their police cars,” the Observatory continued.
Those killed were from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group that led a swift offensive to topple Assad’s government earlier this month.
In a post on the messaging platform Telegram, Interior Minister Mohammed Abdul Rahman vowed to crack down on “those who seek to undermine Syria’s security or endanger the lives of its people.”
Late Thursday, the Observatory reported that Hassan had been arrested.
Alawites protest against revenge violence
As the transition of power and authority continues in Syria, thousands of angry protesters have taken to the streets in parts of the country over an unverified video showing an attack on an Alawite shrine.
Apart from the video, the demonstrations have been linked to accounts of violence against minority communities in recent days. The exiled Assad family is a member of the Alawite sect, a religious group seen as pledging allegiance to the old regime.
Fabrice Baranche, a Middle East expert at France’s Lumière Lyon 2 University, estimates that the Alawite community makes up about 9% of Syria’s population.
“Alawites were very close to Bashar’s regime. Any association between Alawites and Bashar’s regime risks triggering a collective vendetta against them. The stakes are high,” he told AFP.
Protests erupted in coastal cities where most of the country’s minority Alawite community lives, including Tartus.
According to the Syrian Observatory, gunshots were heard in the central city of Homs, killing one person and injuring five others. It said the incident occurred “after security forces opened fire to disperse the crowd.”
Meanwhile, Syria’s interim authorities claimed the footage was old and not a recent incident. They have sought to reassure minorities that they will be protected.
mm,mk/wd (AP, AFP, Reuters)
