Syria’s new authorities have launched a security crackdown in a coastal region where 14 policemen were killed a day before, vowing to pursue “remnants” of the ousted Bashar al-Assad government accused of the attack, state media reported.
The violence in Tartous province, part of the coastal region that is home to many members of Assad’s Alawite sect, has marked the deadliest challenge yet to the Sunni Islamist-led authorities which swept him from power on Dec. 8.
Members of the Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, wielded huge sway in Assad-led Syria, dominating security forces he used against his opponents during the 13-year-long civil war, and to crush dissent during decades of bloody oppression by his police state.
The security forces launched the Tartous 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 neighbourhood 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.
Dareer told Reuters that the community had extended its hand to the new government but there “have been many violations”, citing multiple accounts of people being beaten at a checkpoint.
An HTS fighter in the area said there had been an incident on Thursday in which Alawites were taken off a bus and beaten because of their religion, but denied that HTS was responsible.
“This is a matter of sedition, and we don’t want to be dragged into it,” Dareer said.
“Thousands of people are filled with resentment, anxiety, and their dignity is offended,” he said.
“However, we must remain committed to peace.”
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.”
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.
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 chant was a reference to Ali ibn Abi Talib, a cousin of the Prophet Mohammed who is revered by Muslims but held in especially high regard by Alawites and Shi’ites, who believe Ali and his descendants should have led the Islamic community.
Mohammed Othman, the newly appointed governor of the coastal Latakia region adjoining Tartous, met Alawite sheikhs to “encourage community cohesion and civil peace”, SANA reported.
The Syrian information ministry declared a ban on what it described as “the circulation or publication of any media content or news with a sectarian tone aimed at spreading division”.
Assad’s long-time Shi’ite regional ally, Iran, has criticised the course of events in Syria in recent days.
On Sunday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Syrian youth to “stand with firm determination against those who have orchestrated and brought about this insecurity”.
Khamenei forecast “that a strong and honourable group will also emerge in Syria because today Syrian youth have nothing to lose”, calling the country unsafe.
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.
“We warn them against spreading chaos in Syria and we hold them accountable for the repercussions of the latest remarks,” he said.
