Syria’s new rebel-led authorities say supporters of ousted President Bashar al-Assad have killed 14 interior ministry troops in an “ambush” in the west of the country.
They say 10 other troops were wounded in the fighting on Tuesday near the Mediterranean port of Tartous, a stronghold of Assad’s minority Alawite Muslim sect.
The clashes with pro-Assad loyalists are the first direct challenge to the authority of Syria’s de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa.
Assad’s presidency fell to rebel forces led by al-Sharaa’s Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham HTS) faction just over two weeks ago.
Security forces launched an operation in Tartous province on Thursday, according to state news agency Sana, in a bid to “restore security, stability and civil peace”.
Sana reported that the forces had “neutralised… a number of remnants of Assad’s militias” in the Tartous countryside, and that it was pursuing others.
Reports say the security forces had earlier been ambushed as they tried to arrest a former officer in connection to his role at the notorious Saydnaya prison, close to the capital, Damascus.
The UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said three “armed men”, which it did not identify, were also killed in the clashes.
The SOHR added that the security forces later brought in reinforcements.
In a separate development, the Syrian authorities imposed an overnight curfew in the central city of Homs, state media reported.
Reports say this followed unrest over a video purportedly showing an attack on an Alawite shrine.
The interior ministry said the footage was old, dating back to a rebel offensive on Aleppo in late November, and the violence was carried out by unknown groups.
The SOHR said one demonstrator was killed and five wounded in Homs.
