Syrian authorities imposed an overnight curfew in the port city of Latakia on Tuesday after attacks in predominantly Alawite neighborhoods the day before.
The interior ministry announced a "curfew in Latakia city, effective from 5 p.m. (2 p.m. GMT) on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, until 6:00 am (3 a.m. GMT) on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025."
Individuals attacked Alawite-majority neighborhoods on Monday, damaging cars and vandalizing shops.
The attacks came a day after three people were killed during mass protests by the minority community that followed a bombing in Homs.
One of them was a member of Syria's security forces, according to a security source.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor reported that a young Alawite man was killed on Monday night in Latakia "by being shot directly inside his car after being chased" by "three young men."
Syrian authorities on Monday said security forces reinforced their deployment in Latakia, and interior ministry spokesman Nureddine al-Baba said Syria rejects "any acts of sabotage or attacks that affect the dignity of citizens or their property... and the necessary legal measures will be taken against their perpetrators."
Latakia, a mixed city in Syria's Alawite coastal heartland, also has several Sunni-majority neighborhoods.
Since Syria's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, himself an Alawite, was ousted in December 2024, the minority group has been the target of attacks.
Hundreds of Alawites were killed in sectarian massacres in the community's coastal heartland in March.
Despite assurances from Damascus that all of Syria's communities will be protected, the country's minorities remain wary of their future under the new authorities.
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