The Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, requested national unity and peace on Sunday, after more than 1,000 people were killed on the coast of Syria in the worst clashes since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.
Violence broke out Thursday between the new security forces and the loyalty of the old government along the Mediterranean coast in the heart of the Alauita minority to which Assad belonged.
Since then, he has intensified in the greatest challenge to the forces of the new government since the Sharaa coalition knocked Assad in December.
“We must preserve national peace (and) civil peace as much as possible and, if God wants, we can live together in this country,” Sharaa said from a mosque in Damascus.
The War Monitor of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported that 745 Alauitan civilians were killed in the provinces of Latakia and Tartus.
The Observatory based in Great Britain said they were killed in “executions” carried out by security personnel or pro -government combatants, accompanied by the “looting of households and properties.”
The fight has also killed 125 members of the Security Forces and 148 Pro-Assad combatants, according to the Observatory, carrying the number of deaths to 1,018.
The official Fury The news agency reported on Saturday that security forces had been deployed in Latakia, as well as Jableh and Baniyas further south, to restore the order.
Samir Haidar, resident of Baniyas, 67, AFP Two of his brothers and his niece were killed by “armed groups” who entered people’s houses, adding that there were “foreigners among them.”
Although he himself was Alauita, Haidar was part of the leftist opposition to the Assads and was imprisoned for more than a decade under his government.
The spokesman of the Ministry of Defense, Hassan Abdul Ghani, said the security forces had “reimputed control” on the areas that had seen attacks from Assad’s loyal.
“It is strictly forbidden to approach any home or attack any person inside their homes,” he added in a video posted by Fury.
The Minister of Education, Nazir Al-Qadri, announced that schools would remain closed on Sunday and Monday in the provinces of Latakia and Tartus due to “unstable security conditions.”
Sana reported an energy cut throughout the province of Latakia due to attacks on the network by Assad’s loyal.
The murders followed the confrontations caused by the arrest of a suspect sought in a predominantly Alauito village, the observatory reported.
The monitor said there had been a “return to calm” in the region on Saturday, since security forces deployed reinforcements.
A source from the Ministry of Defense said Fury that the troops had blocked the roads that led to the coast to avoid “violations”, without specifying who was committing them.
The Security Director of the Province of Latakia, Mustafa Kneifati, told the news agency: “We will not allow the sedition or orientation of any component of the Syrian people.”
Sharaa’s group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the ray offensive that knocked Assad in December, has its roots in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda and remains banned as a terrorist organization by many governments, including the United States.
Since the rebel victory, he has moderated his rhetoric and has promised to protect Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities.
The Heartland of Alawite has taken over the fear of reprisals for the brutal government of the Assad family, which included torture and generalized disappearances.
Users of social networks have shared publications that document the murder of friends and family Alaws.
The Observatory, which is based on a network of sources in Syria, has reported multiple “massacres” in recent days, with women and children among the dead.
The observatory and activists published images that show dozens of bodies with civil clothing stacked outside a house, with nearby blood stains and women who cry.
Other videos seemed to show men with military outfits shooting people at a short distance.
AFP He could not independently verify the images or accounts.
The leaders of the three main Christian churches in Syria, as well as the spiritual leader of the minority Duse of Syria, issued statements that requested the end of violence.
The military support of northern Syria addresses Latakia to fight the loyal of Assad.
Aron Lund from Century International Think Tank said violence was “a bad omen.”
The new government lacks tools, incentives and the local support base to commit to discontent alautes, he said.
“All they have is repressive power, and much of that … It is composed of jihadist fans who think that alauitas are enemies of God.”
