Alawites ambushed a police patrol in Jablah near Latakia. As a result, at least 13 security officers were killed, there are injured – their number was not specified. An official in Damascus told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
“The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Monitoring Center” says the attack allegedly killed 70 people, Agence France-Presse reports.
During the operation, security forces detained a former air force intelligence chief, one of the Assad family’s most trusted agents.
The incident was a sharp escalation of tensions in the coastal zone, which is an Alawite stronghold. The tensions are particularly acute in the mountainous coastal area where the Syrian government has deployed its forces, Reuters noted.
Syrian authorities have imposed a 12-hour curfew in Tartous, with people urged to stay at home and avoid any gatherings in public places. Large reinforcements are being sent to the coastal region to control the situation
Alawites say Sunni militant attacks against Alawites in rural Homs and Latakia are intensifying in Syria, despite the new government officially opposing the crackdown on Alawites.
