Syria’s New Authorities Launch Security Crackdown in Coastal Region
Damascus, Syria – Syria’s new authorities have launched a security crackdown in a coastal region where 14 policemen were killed, vowing to pursue “remnants” of the ousted Bashar al-Assad government accused of the attack. The violence in Tartous province has marked the deadliest challenge yet to the Sunni Islamist-led authorities which swept him from power on December 8.
The security forces launched the operation to “control security, stability, and civil peace, and to pursue the remnants of Assad’s militias in the woods and hills”, state news agency SANA reported.
The crackdown was announced as the Damascus authorities warned of an attempt to incite sectarian strife, after a video dating from late November circulated on social media showing a fire inside an Alawite shrine in Aleppo. The interior ministry said unknown groups perpetrated the violence and that its forces were working “night and day” to protect religious sites.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the former al Qaeda affiliate which led the rebel campaign that toppled Assad, has repeatedly vowed to protect minority groups, who fear the new rulers could seek to impose an Islamist government. Many members of minority groups, including Christians, are worried.
In a predominantly Alawite neighborhood of Damascus, Alawite sheikh Ali Dareer said that homes had been vandalised and people beaten on the basis of their religious identity, despite HTS promises the sect would be treated with respect. He blamed “a third party” trying to incite discord.
Taher Dawwa, a 38-year-old Alawite who was a military volunteer under Assad, said the “burden of all mistakes” should not be placed on one sect. “We don’t want division.”
Underlining sectarian tensions, protesters chanted “Oh Ali!” during a rally outside local government headquarters in Tartous, images posted on social media on Wednesday showed.
The Syrian war took on sectarian dimensions as Assad drew on Shi’ite militias from across the Middle East, mobilised by his ally Iran, to battle the insurgency dominated by members of the Sunni Muslim majority.
Iran, a long-time ally of Assad, has criticised the course of events in Syria in recent days. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Syrian youth to “stand with firm determination against those who have orchestrated and brought about this insecurity”.
Syria’s newly appointed foreign minister, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, said on Tuesday that Iran must respect the will of the Syrian people and Syria’s sovereignty and security.
