The new rebel-led Syrian authorities said that supporters of ousted President Bashar al-Assad killed 14 Interior Ministry soldiers in an “ambush” in the west of the country.
They say ten other soldiers were wounded in the fighting that took place on Tuesday near the Mediterranean port of Tartous, a stronghold of the Alawite minority to which Assad belongs.
Reports say that security forces were ambushed while trying to arrest a former officer in connection with his role in the notorious Sednaya prison, near the capital, Damascus.
Just over two weeks ago, Assad’s presidency fell to rebel forces led by the Islamist faction Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three unidentified “militants” were also killed in the clashes.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights added that the security forces later brought in reinforcements.
In a separate development, official media reported that the Syrian authorities imposed a night-time curfew in the city of Homs in the center of the country.
Reports say this came in the wake of unrest over a video allegedly showing an attack on an Alawite shrine.
The Interior Ministry said the footage was old, dating back to the rebel attack on Aleppo in late November, and that the violence was carried out by unknown groups.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that a demonstrator was killed and five wounded in Homs.
Demonstrations were also reported in areas including the cities of Tartus and Latakia, and Assad’s birthplace of Qardaha.
Alawites are a branch of Shiite Islam to which many of the political and military elite of the former regime belonged, including the Assad family.
The community fears retaliation, with its members blamed for torture and killing in Syria under Assad.
Former officers refuse to hand over their weapons, and local residents in some towns indicate their desire to fight, which is what appears to have happened in Tartous.
There are calls by Alawite religious leaders for a general amnesty for the Alawites – but this is unlikely due to the many alleged war crimes committed by their members.
Tens of thousands of people have been tortured to death in Syrian prisons, and thousands of families are still waiting for answers and justice.
The Syrians are demanding justice and the prosecution of those responsible, which worries the Alawites.
The HTS-led blitz, which began in northeastern Syria and spread across the country, ended more than 50 years of Assad’s rule.
Assad and his family were forced to flee to Russia.
Since then, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham has promised to protect the rights and freedoms of many religious and ethnic minorities in Syria.
The group has been designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and others.
Protests broke out in the country on Tuesday On burning Christmas treeThis sparked new calls for new authorities to protect minorities.
