Syria’s transitional government is facing significant challenges as sectarian tensions and violence escalate in the wake of President Bashar al-Assad’s ousting.
On Thursday, rebel-led authorities reported that an ambush by pro-Assad loyalists in Tartous on Tuesday has left 14 police officers dead and 10 wounded.
Security forces launched an operation in Tartous, a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite Muslim sect, to arrest an Assad-era officer linked to the notorious Saydnaya prison and “restore security, stability, and civil peace.” according to the state news agency Sana.
Sana reported that the forces had neutralized several remnants of Assad’s militias in Tartous countryside and they were still pursuing others.
In the central city of Homs, where protests had erupted earlier over the shrine attack video, one demonstrator was killed and five others wounded after security forces opened fire to disperse the crowd, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
🔷In Latakia, Hama, and Tartus, mass protests by the Alawite community have begun.
– After the extrajudicial executions by HTS members, the abduction of civilians, and the recent burning of Hasibi’s shrine, Alawites, following the Christians, are now in the streets. pic.twitter.com/VYgFTVf91v
— Fırat Bulut (@firat_buluttt) December 25, 2024
Today videos were being circulated where HTS affiliated fighters burned the #Alawite Shrine of “Abu Abdullah Al-Hussein bin Hamdan Al-Khusibi” in Aleppo and executed 5 people. Some activists claimed that the video dated during the offensive on Aleppo. In reaction, Alawites in… pic.twitter.com/dRnmskbIi5
— Yeghia Tashjian /يغيا/ Եղիա Թաշճեան 🇱🇧🇦🇲 (@yeghig) December 25, 2024
The HTS-led offensive, which toppled Assad after more than 50 years of his family’s rule, brought promises of inclusivity and rights for Syria’s diverse religious and ethnic groups. However, the group’s designation as a terrorist organization by the United Nations and other international entities complicates its legitimacy and ability to secure foreign support.
Aside from the Alawite communities, Christian communities also held protests in Syria in recent days following the circulation of a video showing hooded fighters setting fire to a Christmas tree in Suqaylabiyah.
The demonstrations, focused on demands for greater security and religious freedoms, ended after HTS leaders promised increased security and began addressing long standing issues, including discussions to restore crosses to churches in Idlib Province.
