More than 130 killed as Syrian government forces and pro-Assad militias clash

Reports of dozens more wounded in fierce fighting

Syrian security forces fought with Al Assad loyalists for a second day in the country's coastal region on Friday, as the Islamist-led government sought to quell the deadliest unrest since the fall of the former regime.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, reported that more than 130 people had been killed in two days of clashes in the coastal region of western Syria, the heartland of the Alawite minority, former president Bashar Al Assad's sect.

Syrian authorities said that the two-day attack was “premeditated”. They were the bloodiest clashes since rebels led by the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham group took control of Syria and formed a government.

Government-aligned Syria TV said about 70 fighters were killed in the clashes, including 20 government security officers.

The UK war monitor claimed that dozens of Alawite civilians were killed by fighters affiliated with the HTS government. A video online showed dead in civilian clothes in Latakia, while another showed the mass killing of men.

The Syrian state news agency Sana, quoting a security source, said “individual violations” had been committed as a result of crowds heading to the coastal region on Thursday. “We are working to stop these violations,” the source said, without attributing responsibility for them.

Syrian security forces reinforcements on the outskirts of Latakia on Friday. AP

The fighting started with an ambush on Thursday, when Assad supporters attacked security forces in Jableh, Latakia province.

Residents told The National they were trying to flee from the fighting. “All hell broke loose here,” said a resident who has been sheltering at home since Thursday night.

He described fierce fighting still under way. “We're hearing gunfire, rockets, cannons, mortars – a lot of people are dying. I'm just looking for a way to escape with my family,” he said, adding that most roads were cut off by the military. “Pray for us,” he added.

Syrian security forces sent reinforcements from other governorates to the coastal region. This includes Latakia and Tartous – heartland of the Alawite sect to which the Al Assad family belongs. Authorities have urged civilians to remain indoors.

Pictures online showed convoys of tanks lining roads to the coast, while roads leading out of the area were empty.

“We're waiting for the convoy to enter the city – they’re coming from Damascus and Idlib – to disarm the remnants of the regime. There won’t be sectarian tensions because security forces will restore calm,” said another resident.

“In the past days, we saw an incitement campaign on social media, with a leader from the remnants of Assad’s forces threatening Syria's new security patrols and the army, saying they were the targets,” said the resident.

“I was expecting something like to happen, and so was the entire city. Now we hope the calm will be restored for good.”

Smoke rises from a factory hit during clashes between Syrian security forces and Assad loyalists in the outskirts of Latakia. AP

Elsewhere, demonstrators turned out in Damascus, Hama, Homs and Idlib in support of the operations by the new security forces to secure Jableh, Sana reported.

Authorities imposed overnight curfews on Alawite-populated areas, including Latakia, Tartous and Homs, Sana said.

'Most violent attacks since Assad was toppled'

Amid the violence, security forces captured and arrested former general intelligence chief Ibrahim Huweija on Thursday. He is accused of organising several assassinations during the rule of Hafez Al Assad, Bashar's father and predecessor, including the killing of Lebanese Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt.

Syrians hold a rally in Idlib in support of Syria's new security forces on Thursday. EPA

Mr Al Huweija, who headed air force intelligence from 1987 to 2002, has long been a suspect in the 1977 murder of Mr Jumblatt.

Elsewhere in Latakia, security forces clashed with gunmen loyal to an Assad-era special forces commander after authorities reportedly launched helicopter strikes in the village of Beit Ana, the provincial security director said.

“The armed groups that our security forces were clashing with in the Latakia countryside were affiliated with the war criminal Suhail Al Hassan,” he told Sana.

Nicknamed The Tiger, Mr Al Hassan formerly led Syria's special forces and was frequently described as Mr Al Assad's favourite soldier. He was responsible for military advances by the Assad government in 2015.

A member of Syria's new security forces gestures from an armoured vehicle in Sanamayn, in the southern province of Deraa, on Wednesday. AFP

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported “strikes launched by Syrian helicopters on armed men in the village of Beit Ana and the surrounding forests, coinciding with artillery strikes on a neighbouring village”.

Sana said pro-Assad militias had opened fire on “members and equipment of the defence ministry” near the village, killing one security force member and wounding two.

Fadel Abdul Ghany, executive director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, said the attacks by pro-Assad elements signalled “a level of planning and organisation that extends beyond isolated or sporadic incidents”.

“The operational tactics employed, including multi-axis co-ordination and strategic withdrawal into mountainous terrain post-engagement, reflect elements of well-executed guerrilla warfare,” he wrote on X.

Residents and organisations have reported violations during those campaigns, including the seizing of homes, killings and kidnappings. Syria's new authorities have described the violations as “isolated incidents” and vowed to pursue those responsible.