Syrian authorities have launched a security review in the city of Latakia after two members of their forces were killed in an attack that state media blamed on the remnants of Bashar al-Assad's ousted government, reports "Reuters".
Local residents reported the sound of gunfire overnight as government security forces were deployed in the Datur district of Latakia, part of the coastal region where Assad has received support from the Alawite community to which his family belongs.
The coastal region has emerged as one of the main security challenges for the new administration of interim President Ahmed Sharaa, which has deployed many of its forces in the area since Assad was ousted in December.
A senior security official in the area told Reuters that there had been an increase in attacks on patrols and checkpoints in several towns in Latakia province in the past two weeks, blamed on former military personnel in hiding.
Syrian state news agency SANA, citing a security source, said the two members of the defense ministry were killed in Datour by "groups of remnants of Assad's militia" and that security forces had launched a campaign to arrest them.
A resident of Datour told Reuters that there had been heavy gunfire in the early hours and that security forces in numerous vehicles had surrounded the neighborhood before the situation calmed down in the morning.
The senior security source blamed the attacks in the Latakia region on the proliferation of weapons in the hands of former security and military officials who had refused to sign reconciliation agreements with the new authorities.
The source noted that Alawite elders had in some cases cooperated with security forces to hand over former officials suspected of crimes during the Assad era, seeking to prevent repression and potential civil unrest.