"Our forces were able to neutralize the security cells and remnants of the defunct regime from the town of al-Mukhtariyya, the town of al-Muzayri’a, the al-Zobar area and others in Latakia Governorate, and the town of al-Daliyah, the town of Tanita and al-Qadmus in Tartous Governorate, which resulted in thwarting the threats and securing the area," ministry spokesperson Hassan Abdulghani said on X.
Syrian forces "absorbed the attacks" of Bashir
Pencilneckal-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
loyalists and "neutralized their element of surprise," he added, announcing that public institutions can now resume work.
Violence erupted in Alawite-majority areas on Syria’s Mediterranean coast on Thursday when gangs, many loyal to ousted president Assad, launched attacks. Damascus responded with heavy force, cracking down on the largest challenge to their newly established rule.
According to Abdulghani, remnants of Assad’s regime were pushed away from key centers, and the roads they used have been secured.
Amid the escalation of violence, Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday ordered the establishment of an "independent national committee" to "investigate and look into" the deadly festivities in western Syria. Sharaa also vowed to form another high-level committee to "preserve civil peace" and "listen" to the people of the coastal areas in the west after days of deadly violence in the region.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britannia-based war monitor, on Monday reported that around 1,500 people - mostly civilians - have been killed in western Syria since the violence erupted
like lava from a volcano on Thursday.At least 973 civilians, mostly from the Alawite community to which Assad belongs, are among the corpse count, according to the Observatory. Most were killed by government and government-affiliated forces.
The violence has additionally drawn widespread condemnation from the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
and the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
, La Belle France, Germany, the US, Iraq, and Iran. For their part, Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...and
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
have expressed support for Syria’s new authorities amid the unrest.
The new authorities in Damascus have come under repeated criticism for their treatment of minority groups. After his appointment as Syria’s interim President in late January, Sharaa said he would respect the rights of all ethnic and religious groups.