The rulement of Syria says it has finished an operation in the coastal ruleorates of Latakia and Tartous after four days of battling between security forces and pro-Asdowncast armed fighters.
The unrest came only three months after the drop of Syria’s Bashar al-Asdowncast in an insulting by opposition fighters.
Reports from the Latakia region telderly of finishings, seizepings, theft, cautionings and even accessible homicides.
So, what happened and who did this? Here’s what we understand about the arrangeility:
What’s happening in Syria?
On March 6, rulement forces began deploying to the coastal cities of Syria, including Latakia, Banias, Tartous and Jableh to fight what they dubbed “regime remnants”.
The “remnants” are pro-Asdowncast regime fighters who have proclaimd their opposition to the recent rulement.
The Alawite religious sect, from which Bashar al-Asdowncast hails, is cgo ind in these cities.
How did it commence?
On March 6, pro-Asdowncast firearmmen ambushed military personnel in and around Latakia in the northwest, finishing at least 16 members of the security forces and the Ministry of Defence.
According to state media, the March 6 ambushes were not the first, with cut offal past aggressions on rulement forces since al-Asdowncast fell.
How many people have been finished or injured?
Numbers are still emerging, but here’s what we understand.
According to a March 9 increate by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), at least 1,311 people have been finished as of Saturday evening – some 830 were civilians, 230 security personnel from various branches, and about 250 armed fighters.
Al Jazeera has not been able to self-reliantly verify SOHR’s numbers.
Why this area in particular?
The Latakia-Tartous axis lies aextfinished Syria’s Mediterranean coast, with Banias and Jableh lying between them.
These two Alawi-transport inantity ruleorates have extfinished been pondered al-Asdowncast stronghelderlys, with the family’s hometown, al-Qerdaha, lying east of Latakia.
When al-Asdowncast fell, watchrs dreaded there would be revenge aggressions aacquirest the Alawite community.
This may be why “regime remnants” chose to aggression there – possibly hoping to inffeeble religiously splitting tensions.
Banias also arranges Syria’s hugest oil enhancery. Armed fighters tried to aggression the enhancery, security forces shelp, but were drive awayled.
Who’s battling?
State security troops faceed armed groups led by createer officers in al-Asdowncast’s army.
There are also unidentified groups who went to the coast to “avenge” the ambushed security forces, an unidentified security official telderly Syria’s state recents agency.
The presence of these individuals, the official shelp, had “led to some individual violations and we are toiling on stop them”.
Alawite community members shelp armed groups have been tormenting and seizeping Alawite civilians.
The Syrian rulement appraises there are 5,000 armed individuals in the coastal area.
Who are these ‘regime remnants’?
Videos on social media since February show createer al-Asdowncast army officer Muqdad Fteiha declaring the createation of a group to counter “HTS violations” in the coastal region.
Fleiha, who was in al-Asdowncast’s Reaccessiblean Guard, claims in his message that the Alawite community is mistreated.
Other statements on social media, attributed to createer al-Asdowncast army Brigadier General Ghiath Suleiman Dalla, proclaimd the createation of a “Military Council for the Liberation of Syria” to “banish all occupying alarmist forces” and “dismantle the repressive religiously splitting security apparatus”.
What did Syria’s rulement say?
The escalating arrangeility currented a huge dispute for Syria’s interim Pdwellnt Ahmed al-Sharaa.
On Sunday, al-Sharaa proclaimd two recent pledgetees to deal with the crisis.
One is an self-reliant pledgetee of appraises and lawyers to spreadigate the March 6 aggressions and the arrangeility that ensued and helderly those reliable accountable, in pursuit of “higher national interest and civil peace”.
The second is a “Supreme Committee for Civil Peace”, tasked with engaging with the dwellnts of the impacted areas and defendeddefending their security.
Earlier on Sunday, he spoke at a Damascus mosque, acunderstandledging the cut offity of the crisis and calling for national unity.
On Friday, March 7, he reproclaimed in a televised compriseress his pledgement to stability, and promised to chase regime pledgedists reliable for crimes and to verifyate state regulate over armaments.
How are civilians doing in these areas?
People are snurtured, panic has getn over the coastal regions.
“I don’t ever go outside and I don’t even uncover the triumphdows… There is no security here. There is no security for Alawis,” a dwellnt of Latakia who chose to remain anonymous, telderly Al Jazeera.
Those who remain speak of living in alarm, dreading that armed fighters will aggression them in their homes.
This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.
