An ambush on a Syrian security patrol by gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar Assad has escalated into clashes that a war monitor estimates have killed more than 1,000 people over four days.
The attack Thursday near the port city of Latakia reopened the wounds of the country’s 13-year civil war and sparked the worst violence Syria has seen since December, when insurgents led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, overthrew Assad.
The counteroffensive against the Assad loyalists in the largely Alawite coastal region brought havoc to several cities and towns. Rights groups reported dozens of revenge killings resulting from Sunni militants targeting the minority Islamic sect, regardless of whether they were involved in the insurgency.
Tensions have been on the rise since Assad’s downfall following sectarian attacks against Alawites, who ruled Syria for over 50 years under the Assad dynasty. The assaults continued despite promises from Syria’s interim president that the country’s new leaders will carve out a political future for Syria that includes all of its communities.
In their ambush, the pro-Assad Alawite gunmen overwhelmed government security forces and later took control of Qardaha, Assad’s hometown, as Damascus scrambled to bring in reinforcements.
Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Hassan Abdel-Ghani said Sunday that security forces have restored control of the region and will continue pursuing leaders of the insurgency.
Most of the dead are apparently members of the Alawite community, who live largely in the country’s coastal province, including in the cities of Latakia and Tartous. Rights groups estimate that hundreds of civilians were killed.
The Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam, and it once formed the core constituency of Assad’s government in the Sunni-majority country.
Assad’s opponents saw Syria under the family’s rule as granting privileges to the Alawite community. As the civil war intensified, militant groups emerged across the country and treated Alawites as affiliates of Assad and his key military allies, Russia and Iran.
Syria’s new interim government is under Sunni Islamist rule. Interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, a former HTS leader, has promised that the country will transition to a system that includes Syria’s mosaic of religious and ethnic groups under fair elections.
