Investigating the massacre of government security personnel in Latakia during the astrophysical demonstrations of the armed rebels under President Assad

The clashes began on Thursday after Assad loyalists killed 16 government security personnel in Latakia province, in the deadliest attack yet on Syria’s new security forces, according to government officials and the Observatory.

Information Ministry officials, responding to the allegations of killing civilians, said that they rejected “undocumented allegations accusing government forces of committing violations.” They said that the government is committed to conducting thorough investigations, and will hold those found to have harmed civilians accountable.

“The Syrian government confirms that its forces operate according to strict standards that respect international humanitarian law and are keen to protect civilians during their operations,” a ministry statement said.

Violence quickly spread across Latakia and Tartus provinces, longtime strongholds of Mr. al-Assad along the Mediterranean coast and home to most of the country’s minority Alawite population, to which the ousted president belongs. A challenge to the country’s new leaders has been the presence of armed remnants of the ousted regime, as they try to exert their authority and unite a fractured country after 13 years of civil war.

The government responded to the initial attack on Thursday by deploying thousands of security forces and soldiers from other parts of the country to the restive coast. Those forces sought to reestablish control over a few towns and villages that the armed gunmen had effectively seized overnight between Thursday and Friday.

A government official on the coast who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to reporters stated that helicopter equipped with machine guns were deployed around the mountainside of the coastal region. The helicopters were deployed to areas where armed Assad loyalists were stationed, the official added.

The New York Times verified a video that shows the rear of a helicopter being bombed by government fighters. A spokesman for the government didn’t give a response when asked about the video.

Human Rights Observatory Observations of Alawite Violence in Syria and the Resurrection against a Regime of Overthrown Regime

The human rights group said the Alawite gunmen loyal to the former regime do not represent the Alawite community, and many Alawite residents desperately want peace.

The new government is led by the rebel group responsible for ousting the Assad regime, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The group’s leader and Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa has pledged many times that the government will protect all minorities, but the Alawites were not reassured because the government does not have a police force or army.

NPR reported that Alawite leaders said their community has been the target of attacks for weeks since the Assad regime was overthrown.

The Observatory characterized many of the killings as executions and massacres, carried out in revenge against the Alawite community, which made up Assad’s traditional base of support. The human rights group also reported burning of homes and forced displacement, worsened by the absence of international intervention.

There were reports of a gun battle near the coast that killed 16 government forces in the coastal region of Latakia.

The Observatory’s reports stated that the casualties mostly involved those fighting on both sides. As the fights went on, the civilian death toll increased with people being shot at close range.