At least 70 dead Syrian government engages in battles with Assad supporters
Over 70 people have been killed in clashes between Assad supporters and government troops. The government sends reinforcements, the situation in several cities remains unclear.
07.03.2025, 12:07
07.03.2025, 12:25
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Fighting has broken out in Syria between government troops and supporters of ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad.
- More than 70 people are said to have been killed.
- Those loyal to Assad hold three towns - including Assad's birthplace.
- An attempt to arrest one person triggered the fighting.
More than 70 people have been killed in clashes between Syrian security forces and armed supporters of former President Bashar Al-Assad, according to war observers.
The government is no longer in control of an area along the Mediterranean coast, the Observatory for Human Rights announced today.
According to state media reports, government troops sent extensive reinforcements to the cities of Latakia and Tartus as well as nearby towns on Friday night. The region is dominated by the Alawite minority, to which Assad also belongs.
Three cities under the control of Assad loyalists
In the morning, numerous soldiers were deployed in Latakia, civilians were nowhere to be seen on the streets. A curfew imposed in the city and other coastal areas was still in force. According to security forces, there were clashes in one neighborhood, but most of the city was calm and under government control.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 35 members of the government forces, 32 fighters loyal to Assad and four civilians had been killed since the fighting began yesterday afternoon.
The head of the Observatory, Rami Abdurrahman, said that suburbs of the coastal towns of Banijas and Dschabla were still under the control of Assad supporters. Assad's home town of Kardaha and many nearby Alawite villages were also not under the government's control.
Attempted arrest triggered fighting
Abdurrahman said that the clashes began when a member of the security forces tried to arrest a wanted person near Jableh. He had been ambushed by Assad supporters.
The clashes were the most serious since Assad was ousted from power by insurgent groups led by the Islamist group Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) at the beginning of December. Since the fall of Assad, there have been several attacks on members of his Alawite minority, although the new rulers have said they reject such acts of retaliation.
A resident of Kardaha told the AP news agency that the situation was very bad. Government forces had used heavy machine guns in residential areas of the town, he said. Another resident said that people had not left their homes since yesterday because of the gunfire.
