At least 134 people, including 13 women and five children, were killed on Friday in clashes in the provinces of Latakia and Tartus on Syria's Mediterranean coast, the Kurdish television channel Rudaw reported. He said most of them belonged to the Alawite community, whose members make up 12 percent of the country's population.
A total of 229 civilians have been killed since Thursday in fierce clashes between special forces of the Syrian transitional government and armed supporters of former President Bashar al-Assad.
Earlier, the Latakia Interior Ministry reported the deaths of more than 50 members of the Syrian security forces during an operation to suppress an armed rebellion in the northwestern part of the republic. Authorities announced an extension of the curfew imposed in populated areas on Thursday for another day.
The Syrian Defense Ministry announced on Friday that it had regained control of the coastal areas after army units and armored vehicles were sent to Latakia, Baniyas and Tartus. Fierce fighting continues in several places, including the town of Qardaha, considered the birthplace of the Assad family clan.
On March 6, clashes broke out in the provinces of Latakia, Tartus and Homs between security forces and armed groups loyal to the former president. The heaviest shootings were in the town of Jebla, home to Alawites, a religious minority to which the Assad family belongs.
The authorities have sent army units and armored vehicles to three provinces, and a curfew has been imposed in major cities. The Syrian Defense Ministry announced on Friday that it had regained control of the coastal areas.
The two-day clashes have become the most serious challenge to the transitional government in Damascus since the change of power in the Arab republic in December 2024.
Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa called on armed supporters of former President Bashar al-Assad to lay down their arms, threatening persecution. He did so in a video message published by his office on the official Telegram channel.
“The remnants of the previous regime must take the initiative and lay down their arms“, he said, stressing that the new authorities “will pursue the remnants of the fallen regime“ and that those who “continue to attack people will face a fair trial“. Al-Sharaa said the government "will continue to limit the supply of weapons to the state and there will be no free weapons in Syria." According to him, "anyone who attacks unarmed civilians will be held strictly accountable."
The Syrian leader promised that "the state will remain the guarantor of civil peace and will not allow it to be violated." "Our people on the shores in the conflict zones are part of our responsibility and it is our duty to protect and save them from the evil of the groups of the fallen regime," al-Sharaa stressed. The president called on “all forces that have joined the fighting to fully obey the military commanders and security forces operating there“.