Syria says 14 security personnel killed in ‘ambush’ by Assad loyalists
Syria’s newly established rebel-led authorities have reported that 14 interior ministry personnel were killed and 10 others injured in an “ambush” carried out by forces loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad in the western part of the country. The incident occurred near the Mediterranean port of Tartous on Tuesday.
According to reports, the security forces were ambushed while attempting to arrest a former officer linked to his role at the notorious Saydnaya prison near Damascus.
This attack comes just over two weeks after Assad’s presidency was toppled by rebel factions, including the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that three militants were also killed during the clashes and that security forces later brought in reinforcements.
In another development, Syrian authorities imposed an overnight curfew in the central city of Homs, according to state media. This followed unrest triggered by a video allegedly showing an attack on an Alawite shrine. Syria’s interior ministry clarified that the video was old, dating back to the late November rebel offensive on Aleppo, and that the violence was carried out by unknown groups.
The SOHR stated that one demonstrator was killed and five others wounded during the unrest in Homs. Protests were also reported in other areas, including Tartous, Latakia, and Assad’s hometown of Qardaha. The Alawite sect, from which the Assad family hails, has historically provided many of the political and military leaders of the former regime.
The HTS-led lightning offensive that started from Syria’s north-east and spread all over the country ended the Assad family’s more than 50-year-rule.
Assad and his family were forced to flee to Russia.
HTS has since promised to protect the rights and freedoms of many religious and ethnic minorities in Syria.
HTS is designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN, the US, the EU, the UK and others.
On Tuesday, protests broke out in the country over the burning of a Christmas tree, prompting fresh calls for the new authorities to protect minorities.
