Some soldiers who supported Bashar al-Assad were fighting against Syria's new leaders. They killed 14 soldiers from the new government in an "ambush" on Tuesday, near the city of Tartous, which is a place where many of Assad’s followers live. Ten more soldiers were hurt in the fight.
This fight was the first time the loyalists of Assad directly challenged the new leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa. Assad’s government fell just two weeks ago when rebel forces, led by Sharaa’s group, took over.
The Syrian government, now under new leadership, started a big operation on Thursday to bring peace to Tartous. They said they "neutralised" some of Assad’s soldiers and were chasing others. The fighting started when the security forces tried to arrest a former officer from Assad's regime, who worked in a prison called Saydnaya near Damascus.
A group called the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three other men were killed in the clash, but it didn’t say who they were. After the fighting, the government sent in more soldiers.
On Thursday, the government also made a curfew in the city of Homs. This happened after a video was shared showing an attack on an Alawite shrine. The authorities said the video was old and had been made during a fight in Aleppo in November. Some people in Homs protested, and one person died, while five others were hurt.
The new government, led by former rebels, is trying to keep the country safe. Syrians want the government to protect everyone’s rights, especially those who lost family members during the time Assad was in charge.
People in places where Assad’s followers live, like in Tartous, Latakia, and Qardaha, are worried about what might happen next. The Alawite group, to which Assad and his family belong, is scared of revenge because many people think they were part of the torture and killing during Assad's rule.
Some former officers don’t want to give up their weapons, and people in some towns are thinking of fighting back. In Tartous, this seemed to happen during the fight. Some religious leaders in the Alawite community have asked for forgiveness, but it is unlikely because many people believe they were responsible for crimes during the war.
The new government, led by Sharaa, is trying to keep order in towns where the Alawite people live. But if the government tries to arrest Assad’s loyalists, it might make the country even more unstable.
Many Syrians are waiting for justice for the family members who were tortured and killed under Assad’s rule. They want the people who hurt their loved ones to be punished. But people in the Alawite group are worried about this.
The fight that began with the rebels in the northeast of Syria ended the Assad family’s 50 years of rule. Assad and his family fled to Russia. Since then, the new government has promised to protect everyone’s rights, no matter their religion or ethnicity. But there are concerns because the group leading Syria, called HTS, is considered a terrorist group by the UN, US, UK, and other countries.
On Tuesday, protests happened after a Christmas tree was burned. People are calling for the new leaders to protect everyone in the country, including religious groups.
