Bloody clashes erupt in Syria’s coastal regions, leaving 70 dead

The uprising that erupted last night in the coastal regions of Syria, predominantly inhabited by Alawites, against the transitional government established under the leadership of HTS, continued until the morning. After the clashes, which resulted in the deaths of more than 70 people and injuries to dozens more, the HTS administration declared a curfew in Latakia, Tartus, and Homs during the night.

According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the tension began in the village of Bayt Ana, in the Jableh district of Latakia, after villagers prevented HTS-affiliated security forces from arresting a person wanted on charges of arms smuggling. Security forces clashed with armed individuals in the village who had served as colonels in the Syrian army during the Assad era and were loyal to Suheil al-Hassan. The use of air support by HTS forces during the clashes led to their spread.

Mustafa Kuneyfati, the Director of the Latakia General Security Administration of the HTS administration, speaking to the Syrian official news agency SANA, stated, “Elements of the overthrown regime launched a planned attack on the checkpoints of the general security forces. Public institutions were destroyed.”

One of the locations that witnessed the fiercest clashes last night was Tartus, which hosts Russia’s only naval base in the Mediterranean. It was reported that clashes continued around Tartus until morning.

The HTS-affiliated army dispatched reinforcement units consisting of hundreds of vehicles, including tanks, armored personnel carriers, and multiple rocket launchers, to the provinces of Latakia and Tartus.

According to a report by SANA, citing security sources, operations to capture the “forces of the overthrown regime” will be expanded and continued. Those who wish to surrender their weapons were called upon to go to the nearest security checkpoint.

Since the morning, images of unarmed people massacred in some areas, including the village of Haffah in rural Latakia, have been widely shared on social media.

During the operations carried out in Jableh, it was reported that Ibrahim Huwayjah, the former head of Syrian Air Force Intelligence, was detained.

Huwayjah, who served between 1987 and 2002, is alleged to have been responsible for hundreds of assassinations during the era of former President Hafez al-Assad and to have played a role in the assassination of Lebanese Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt 48 years ago.

While the clashes were ongoing, a statement attributed to Brigadier General Ghiyas Suleiman Dalla, a high-ranking military official from the Assad era, circulated on social media.

The statement announced the establishment of the “Military Council for the Liberation of Syria,” stating that the council’s purpose is “to liberate all Syrian territories from the occupying terrorist forces” and “to overthrow the current regime and dismantle the oppressive sectarian security apparatus.” Syrians from various sects, regions, and ethnicities were called upon to join the council’s ranks.

On the other hand, Sheikh Ghazal, the President of the Supreme Islamic Alawite Council, representing Alawite communities in Syria and the diaspora, condemned the “bombing of civilian settlements by warplanes” in a statement on social media and called for peaceful demonstrations in Latakia, Tartous, Damascus, and Homs this afternoon.

According to a report by AFP, following the news that HTS forces were targeted in the clashes in Latakia, a crowd of young men gathered in Idlib, the stronghold of HTS, to support the military command. Calls for ‘jihad’ against “militants” on the Syrian coast were made from mosque loudspeakers.