The Media and Communications Directorate at the Syrian Ministry of Defense said that Syrian army groups, backed by armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers, entered the centers of Latakia and Tartus after attacks escalated by groups it described as “outlaws,” targeting residents and security forces.
In a statement carried by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on Sunday, 28 December, it added that the army’s mission is to maintain security and restore stability in cooperation with the Internal Security Forces.
The statement came after three people, including a security member, were killed and 60 others injured, in addition to damage to several Internal Security command vehicles and two ambulances, as a result of “assaults” and acts of rioting following demonstrations witnessed on Syria’s coast, according to Latakia governorate’s Director of Public Relations, Nour al-Din Brimo, in a statement to Enab Baladi.
Brimo added that a group of “remnants of the fallen regime” among the demonstrators attacked public property and then opened fire on security personnel and civilians. He noted that most of the injured were civilians, alongside security members, and that the injuries were distributed among hospitals in Latakia and Jableh (south of Latakia city, on Syria’s Mediterranean coast).
Cities and rural areas across Latakia and Tartus governorates (northwestern Syria, on the Mediterranean coast), as well as areas in Homs (central Syria), the western countryside of Hama (west central Syria), and the al-Ghab Plain (northwestern Syria, part of Hama province), witnessed demonstrations today in main squares and key gathering points, amid tightened security measures and heavy deployment of government forces.
The protests, held under the name “Flood of Dignity,” came in response to a call issued by Sheikh Ghazal Ghazal, head of what is known as the “Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the Diaspora,” on Saturday, 27 December.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Latakia reported that the al-Ziraa area in Latakia city witnessed two demonstrations amid tightened security and heavy deployment of government forces, one in support of the government, and another that raised slogans calling for “stopping the killing,” “federalism,” and “justice.” Demonstrators also condemned the bombing that struck the Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in Homs on Friday, and demanded the release of detainees arrested after the fall of the former regime.
The correspondent added that pro-government groups attempted to move into neighborhoods in the city, but security personnel prevented them from doing so, noting that verbal “altercations” took place between demonstrators.
Clashes also broke out at al-Azhari roundabout in Latakia city, beginning with stone throwing, followed by gunfire from buildings, according to the correspondent. This led to clashes between Internal Security Forces present at the site and armed individuals who took advantage of the gatherings.
According to what the correspondent observed, pro-government demonstrators used bladed weapons and smashed shopfronts and cars in the al-Raml al-Shamali area.
Local sources told Enab Baladi that the demonstrations initially began peacefully in both Latakia and Jableh, with men, women, and children participating. Photos of ousted President Bashar al-Assad were burned, with calls for his trial and the trial of all those implicated during the Syrian revolution. The sources said pro-government supporters later began blocking some streets to prevent people from reaching the protesters’ demonstration.
The sources confirmed that pro-government demonstrators were carrying various types of bladed weapons and attacked protesters, resulting in injuries among them. The sources also reported car-ramming incidents at al-Azhari roundabout. They added that security personnel fired random shots to separate the demonstrators.
The number of demonstrators began to decline gradually after clashes erupted between protesters and pro-government supporters at the gatherings of al-Ziraa roundabout and al-Azhari roundabout in Latakia, al-Qusour roundabout in the city of Baniyas (a coastal city in Tartus province), and in Homs.
Latakia’s Internal Security commander, Brigadier General Abdulaziz al-Ahmad, said, according to the ministry’s official platforms, that security forces and protesters were subjected to direct gunfire from an unknown source coming from the al-Mashrou’ al-Ashir neighborhood, while they were at al-Azhari roundabout and the Republic Highway in Latakia city, resulting in injuries among civilians and security members.
He added that an armed group, concealed within the protests, targeted one of the special tasks points assigned to protect the gathering by throwing an offensive grenade, injuring two Internal Security members.
In a previous statement, al-Ahmad said authorities had observed masked, armed individuals affiliated with what are known as “Saraya Dira al-Sahil” and “Saraya al-Jawad,” which he said were responsible for field executions and the detonation of improvised explosive devices on the M1 highway, during protests at al-Azhari roundabout in Latakia city and the National Hospital roundabout in Jableh.
Syria’s coastal protests call to “stop the killing” and demand “federalism”
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