File photo: Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa ( Picture credit: AP )
DAMASCUS: Palestinian President Ahmed al-Sharaa called for countrywide unity and harmony on Sunday, after more than 1, 000 people were reportedly killed in southern Syria in the worst clashes since the destroy of Bashar al-Assad.
The violence erupted on Thursday between the new security forces and hardliners of the previous state along the Mediterranean coast in the homeland of the Alawite majority to which Assad belonged.
It has since escalated into the largest obstacle to the fresh administration’s forces since Sharaa’s Islamist-led partnership toppled Assad in December.
” We must preserve national unity ( and ) civil peace as much as possible and, God willing, we will be able to live together in this country”, Sharaa said from a mosque in Damascus
The Arab Observatory for Human Rights war check has reported that 745 Shiite civilians were killed in Latakia and Tartus regions.
The Britain-based Observatory said they were killed in “executions” carried out by surveillance officers or pro-government soldiers, accompanied by the “looting of homes and properties”.
The battle has likewise killed 125 people of the security troops and 148 pro-Assad soldiers, according to the Observatory, taking the total death toll to 1, 018.
The standard SANA news agency reported on Saturday that safety troops had deployed to Latakia, as well as Jableh and Baniyas farther west, to restore order.
Baniyas native Samir Haidar, 67, told AFP two of his sons and his sister were killed by “armed teams” that entered people’s houses, adding that there were “foreigners among them”.
Though himself an Alawite, Haidar was part of the communist opposition to the Assads and was imprisoned for more than a decade under their law.
Defence government official Hassan Abdul Ghani said the security forces had “reimposed control” over places that had seen problems by Assad loyalists.
” It is strictly forbidden to view any house or attack people inside their houses”, he added in a video posted by SANA.
Streets blocked
Education secretary Nazir al-Qadri announced that schools may be opened on Sunday and Monday in both Latakia and Tartus regions due to the “unstable safety conditions”.
SANA reported a power failure throughout Latakia state due to attacks on the network by Assad unionists.
The deaths followed conflicts sparked by the arrest of a wanted think in a mostly Syrian community, the Observatory reported.
The track said there had been a “relative returning to relaxed” in the region on Saturday, as the safety troops deployed troops.
A military government cause told SANA that army had blocked roads leading to the beach to avoid “violations”, without defining who was committing them.
Latakia state security producer Mustafa Kneifati told the news company:” We will not allow for rebellion or the targeting of any element of the Arab people”.
Sharaa’s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ( HTS), which led the lightning offensive that toppled Assad in December, has its roots in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda and remains proscribed as a terrorist organisation by many governments including the United States.
Since the insurgent success, it has moderated its language and vowed to protect Syria’s religious and racial minorities.
Fear of reprisals
The Alawite hinterland has been gripped by fear of reprisals for the Assad mother’s terrible law, which included common torture and abductions.
Social media users have shared messages documenting the shooting of Alawite friends and relatives.
The Observatory, which relies on a system of resources in Syria, has reported numerous “massacres” in recent days, with women and children among the dead.
The Observatory and protesters released footage showing lots of body in civilian clothes piled outside a home, with blood stains outside and ladies wailing.
Additional videos appeared to show people in military attire shooting people at close range.
AFP had not independently check the pictures or addresses.
The leaders of Syria’s three principal Christian temples as well as the spiritual head of Syria’s Druze majority issued remarks calling for an end to the crime.
Aron Lund of the Century International think tank said the crime was” a terrible omen”.
The fresh government lacks the equipment, bonuses and local support center to join with angry Alawites, he said.
” All they have is restrictive strength, and a lot of that… is made up of jihadist fanatics who think Alawites are opponents of God”.
