The Syrian armed forces, subordinate to the country's new authorities, are waging fierce battles with supporters of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in the province of Latakia near the coastal cities of Tartus and Jableh, a source in the province told TASS.
„Jebla, Tartus, Beit, Baniyas - there are battles everywhere. There has been no electricity and water for the third day now, everyone is trying not to leave their homes“, the agency's source notes.
He confirmed that there were casualties among civilians.
On March 6, clashes began between security forces and supporters of the former president in the provinces of Latakia, Tartus and Homs. The heaviest shootings were carried out in the city of Jebla, home to the Alawites, a religious minority to which the Assad family belongs. The authorities sent army units and armored vehicles to the aforementioned provinces, and a curfew was imposed in the main cities.
The armed 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. According to the Rudaw television channel, 120 armed Assad supporters were killed in Latakia and Tartus, and the number of civilians killed exceeded 500. According to the Al Jazeera television channel, government forces lost 231 fighters.
Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, called the incidents "expected problems", urging security forces to avoid violence against residents of the western provinces. The UN has called for an end to the violence and the "mass executions of civilians carried out on religious grounds".