According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 14 security personnel from Syria's new authorities and three militants were killed in clashes in Tartus province as troops tried to arrest police officers linked to the notorious Sednaya prison.
The Observatory said the clashes broke out in Tartus, a stronghold of ousted President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority, and were sparked by an attempted arrest of a former Sednaya prison official.
Syria's new interior minister confirmed the deaths in a message on Telegram, saying 10 police officers were also wounded by what he called “remnants” of the Assad regime. The minister vowed to punish anyone who “undermines the security of Syria or endangers the lives of its people.”
The deadly incident came amid demonstrations and a curfew, the most widespread unrest since President Bashar al-Assad was ousted more than two weeks ago.
The demonstrations occurred around the same time that an undated video of a fire breaking out inside an Alawite shrine in the city of Aleppo went viral on social media.
The Ministry of Interior said on its official Telegram account that the video dates back to an attack by Aleppo rebels in late November, that the violence was carried out by an unknown group, and that those who disseminated the video now appear to be trying to incite sectarian unrest. He added.
Syrian police imposed a curfew in the city of Homs following violence linked to demonstrations said to be led by residents from the Alawite and Shiite Muslim minorities, according to state media. .
Agence France-Presse reported that one demonstrator was killed and five others injured in Homs “after security forces opened fire to disperse the crowd,” with protests sparked by a video from an Alawite shrine. It was reported that it happened.
Some residents told Reuters that the demonstrations were the latest in number against members of the Alawite minority, long seen as loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, who was overthrown by Sunni Islamic rebels on December 8. He said it was related to day pressure and violence.
A spokesman for Syria's new government, led by the former al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the curfew.
The curfew will be in place overnight from 6pm local time (3pm GMT) to 8am Thursday morning, state media said.
The observatory also reported demonstrations by thousands in other areas, including the coastal cities of Tartus and Latakia, also strongholds of Alawites, and Assad's hometown of Qardaha.
The protests, the largest by Alawites since the fall of Assad earlier this month, came a day after hundreds of Syrians protested in the capital Damascus against the burning of Christmas trees.
The country's new leaders have repeatedly vowed to protect religious minorities who fear the former rebels now at the helm will try to impose a conservative form of Islamist government. .
The ministry also announced that some members of the former regime attacked Interior Ministry forces in the Syrian coastal area on Wednesday, resulting in numerous casualties.
Meanwhile, new Syrian authorities set fire to a massive drug stockpile on Wednesday, including 1 million Captagon tablets, which ramped up industrial-scale production under the deposed leader, two security officials said.
Captagon is a banned amphetamine-like stimulant that has become Syria's biggest export during the country's civil war since 2011.
Since the overthrow of the Assad regime, Syria's new authorities have announced the discovery of large quantities of Captagon at former government sites across the country, including in the security sector.
With Agence France-Presse and Reuters
