Mar 9,2025: Syria’s interim government has sent reinforcements to coastal cities in the country’s northwest where security forces have been engaged in heavy battles with fighters loyal to former ruler Bashar al-Assad.
The violence, which has reportedly killed hundreds of people, including many civilians, presents the most serious challenge yet to new government’s authority since it took power following al-Assad’s removal in December 2024.
Security forces on Saturday said they had regained control of much of the areas in Tartous and Latakia governorates, where al-Assad loyalists carried out co-ordinated attacks at checkpoints, security convoys and military positions on Thursday.
Syria’s state news agency SANA quoted an unidentified security official as saying that after the attacks, numerous people went to the coastal areas seeking revenge for the assault on government security forces. The official said the actions “led to some individual violations and we are working on stop them”.
A curfew remains in effect in Latakia and other coastal areas that are predominantly home to al-Assad’s minority Alawite sect and make up his longtime base of support. Amid the ongoing fighting, dozens of civilians and members of the former regime and their families have taken shelter at the Russian Khmeimim base in the Latakia countryside.
In his first public comments since the surge in violence, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday called on the fighters to lay down their weapons and surrender “before it is too late”.
Al-Sharaa, who commanded the opposition forces that removed al-Assad after nearly 14 years of war, said government forces would “pursue the remnants of the fallen regime” and bring them “to a fair court”.
