Syria’s new government opened a sweeping security operation on Thursday in Tartous province against remnants of former President Bashar al-Assad loyalists following a deadly attack killing 14 policemen. That was the biggest test to date for the Sunni Islamist-led authorities who had overturned Assad on December 8.
According to reports by state news agency SANA, the operation aims to restore “security, stability, and civil peace” as it pursues Assad-affiliated militias hiding in nearby woods and hills. Violence in Tartous, an area with a large population of Alawites, further underscores sectarian tensions across the country.
Alawites, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, held considerable influence under Assad, dominating security forces during his decades-long rule. Although the new government, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) a former al-Qaeda affiliate has pledged to protect minority groups, reports of sectarian violence persist.
In Damascus, the Alawite cleric, Ali Dareer, underlined recent attacks on his community, including vandalism and beatings targeting individuals by their religious identity. According to him, a “third party” tried to cause strife but peace will have to be restored nonetheless. Similar concerns were sounded out after a video making the rounds showed a fire at an Alawite shrine in Aleppo.
The Syrian interior ministry promised to protect religious sites, while HTS denied involvement in sectarian incidents, calling them provocations. Newly appointed Latakia Governor Mohammed Othman met Alawite leaders to foster “community cohesion and civil peace.”
Meanwhile, the former ally of Assad-Iran criticized the new leadership in Syria. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for Syrian youth to resist instability, which drew warnings from Syria’s foreign minister, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, to respect the sovereignty of the nation.
Syria’s new rulers face big challenges to unite the fractured nation that is still dealing with the aftermath of civil war and lingering sectarian tensions.
