A member of the security forces of the new Syrian authorities fires during clashes in Sanamayn, in the southern province of Daraa, on March 5, 2025. (Credit: Bakr al Kasem/AFP)
Violent clashes in northwest Syria between members of the security forces and fighters "loyal" to ousted President Bashar Assad have claimed more than 70 lives, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said Thursday.
"More than 70 people have been killed and dozens of others wounded or captured during bloody clashes and ambushes on the Syrian coast between members of the Defense and Interior Ministries and militants of the defunct regime's army," stated SOHR on X, based in the United Kingdom with a vast network of sources in Syria. The fighting in the city of Jableh and nearby villages on the Mediterranean coast are the "most violent attacks against the new authorities since Assad's downfall" in December, according to this source.
Restoring security across Syria is the most urgent challenge for the new authorities in power since a coalition of rebel groups led by Islamists overthrew Assad on Dec. 8.
For several days, fighting has been taking place in the Latakia region, an Alawite-majority area in the northwest of the country and a former regime stronghold. In "a well-planned and premeditated attack, several groups of Assad militiamen attacked our positions and control points, targeting a large number of our patrols in the Jableh area," said Mustafa Kneifati, security chief in Latakia.
These attacks caused "many martyrs and wounded among our forces," he added, without giving a precise count.
Security forces will "restore stability to the region and protect the property of our people," he assured.
Man suspected of assassinating Kamal Jumblatt arrested
During the operation, security forces captured and arrested a former head of the Air Force Intelligence Service, one of the security agencies closest to the Assad family, reported the state news agency SANA.
"Our forces in the city of Jableh have succeeded in arresting the criminal general Ibrahim Houweija," reported Sana. "He is accused of committing hundreds of assassinations during the reign of the criminal Hafez al-Assad," the father and predecessor of Bashar al-Assad.
Houweija, who led the Air Force Intelligence Service from 1987 to 2002, is suspected of having assassinated Kamal Joumblatt in 1977.
"Allah is the greatest," Walid Joumblatt, son of Kamal Joumblatt, wrote on X following the news. Many assassinations of anti-Syrian Lebanese officials are attributed to the Assad family, which led Syria with an iron fist for 50 years.
The provincial security director said that security forces faced armed men loyal to a special forces commander from the Assad era in another village in Latakia, following helicopter strikes.
"The armed groups with which our security forces clashed in the Latakia countryside were affiliated with the war criminal Souheil al-Hassan," he told SANA. Nicknamed "The Tiger," he led the country's special forces and was often described as Assad's "favorite soldier." He was behind major military advances made by the Assad government in 2015.
Helicopter strikes
These incidents erupted in Beit Aana, the village of origin for Souheil al-Hassan, when residents prevented the arrest of a person suspected of arms trafficking, according to the SOHR. Security forces then launched an operation, during which, according to SANA, "armed men fired on members and vehicles of the Defense Ministry, near the village, killing one [on the security forces' side] and wounding several." An Al Jazeera photographer was injured, according to the Qatari channel.
Alawite leaders posted on Facebook calling for "peaceful demonstrations" in response to the helicopter strikes, which they say targeted "civilian homes." Security forces in Latakia province imposed a curfew in majority Alawite regions, including Latakia, Tartus and Homs, according to SANA.
Four civilians had already been killed this week in Latakia, according to the SOHR, during operations that also claimed the lives of two members of security forces. Residents regularly denounce abuses committed in the Latakia region, labeled by authorities as "isolated incidents."
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.
Rubio condemns Iran's 'outrageous' attacks on Kuwait
