The newly formed Syria’s rebel-led government stated that 14 security guards died and 10 others were wounded in an “attack” by troops in support of Assad. This attack occurred on Tuesday in the western side of the Syrian province near the sea port of Lattakia.
The rebels accused the security forces of being trapped while attempting to apprehend a former officer who they claimed was involved in operations at the brutal Saydnaya prison close to Syria’s capital, the Damascus. It is a well-known fact that detainees in Saydnaya prison are treated inhumanely.
It was barely two weeks ago when rebels, spearheaded by the Islamist group, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), toppled Assad’s government. The rebels’ rapid advance started at the northern part of Syria and rapidly expanded across the country, and thereby marked the collapse of the Assad family’s dictatorial rule more than half a century. After the rebels’ triumph, Assad and his family had to evacuee to Russia.
Three militants were also killed in the fighting between the rebels and the security forces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a Britain-based watchdog group. Subsequently, security forces brought backup to the attacked zone as suggested by the video below.
HTS, the group that leads the rebellion, swore to fight for the freedoms and equal rights of all Syria’s religious and ethnic groups, though the United Nations, United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom classify this organization as terrorists.
On the day of the ambush, other protesters in Syria demanded that the country's new authorities protect its minorities by burning a Christmas tree.
