Assad loyalists carry out deadly raids in war-weary Syria

Sherif Tarek, Bloomberg News on Mar 6, 2025

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Armed men affiliated with Syria’s toppled regime carried out surprise attacks on the port city of Latakia and other Mediterranean areas, killing dozens in the fiercest confrontations since the ouster of President Bashar Assad in December.

The “pre-planned” offensive singled out multiple security sites in Jableh and the surrounding countryside, damaging government premises as well as public and private property, the Syrian state-run news agency Sana reported Thursday, citing a security official in Latakia.

The death toll reached 48 from both sides, including four civilians, in the hours-long clashes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Military and police forces from different Syrian provinces converged on Jableh to back up the troops that came under fire and restore order.

One of the gunmen was killed and three were arrested during a raid on a security facility in Latakia, a city on the Mediterranean, Sana reported.

An overnight curfew was imposed in Latakia and Tartus‎, also on the Mediterranean, and Homs north of the capital Damascus. Rallies were held in many cities including the capital, Idlib and Hama to voice support for the current government, Syria TV reported.

Russia, where Assad fled as his government collapsed, has a naval base in Tartus.

Deadly episodes since Assad’s downfall underscore the fragile security situation in Syria. Interim President Ahmed Sharaa, whose Hayat Tahrir Sham group led an Islamist uprising against Assad, has been trying to prevent violence in the war-torn country by seizing all weapons and dissolving armed factions.

A Defense Ministry spokesman, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, called on the Assad loyalists to surrender, like thousands of their peers who handed over their weapons to the new authorities. “Do not be fuel for a lost war. Bashar has escaped and left you to your fate,” he said, according to Sana.