The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) on Wednesday. informed Protests broke out in the Syrian coastal cities of Tartus, Latakia, Homs and Qardaha after a video showing an attack on an Alawite temple by unidentified militants was posted on social media.
Alawites are one Sect Shia Islam, whose numbers are small in Syria, had a strong influence until recently because dictator Bashar Assad was an Alawite. Qardaha is Assad’s hometown, while Tartous and Latakia are the cities with the most heavily Alawite populations.
The protests over the attack on the temple are the second major religious demonstration since Assad was ousted by a rebel coalition led by an al-Qaeda offshoot called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on December 8. held Syrian Christians after a Christmas tree was destroyed by masked militants earlier this week.
HTS and its leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, have promised to replace Assad with a new kind of Islamic government that will impose Shariat The law applies throughout the country, but protects the rights of religious minorities, including Christians and Alawites. Given the history of HTS and Shaara’s background as an al-Qaeda leader, many Syrians and outside observers are skeptical of these promises.
Christians apparently fared quite well after protesting the burning of Christmas trees, as HTS promised to punish the perpetrators and moved quickly to replace the destroyed trees. Alawites fear they will be persecuted for supporting Assad, but their performance has not been as good as theirs first mass protest Under the new system.
Police imposed curfew in Homs and other cities, acting quickly To disperse thousands of Alawites who took to the streets. many deaths occurred informed During clashes between police and protesters in Tartus and Homs.
curfew Rebels were leveled in Homs after the government reportedly killed 14 police officers. It has been told As an “ambush” by the remnants of the Assad regime. Apart from curfew, government banned on “Dissemination or publication of any media material or news in communal tone with the aim of spreading division.”
The HTS-controlled Interior Ministry said the video of the attack on the temple was “old”, linked to a rebel attack on the city of Aleppo in early December, and that the attack on the temple was carried out by “unknown groups” with no links to Wasn’t. New government.
International media organizations and SOHR said they were unable to determine the exact date of the video of the attack on the temple.
SOHR Said The target of the attack was apparently a shrine in the Maysaloun district of Aleppo, which has great historical significance for Alawites, as it was dedicated to the sect’s founder Sheikh Abu Abdullah al-Hussein al-Alawi.
The Interior Ministry said the video was circulated by hostile forces to “provoke conflict among the Syrian people at this sensitive stage”. The Alawites were easily agitated, as there were three Alawite judges. shot to death The video surfaced on social media during a visit to the Syrian countryside a day before the shrine.
HTS rule on Thursday launched A major security operation to “control security, stability and civilian peace” in Tartus and other coastal cities and to “pursue the remnants of Assad’s militias into the forests and hills.”
Syria’s new Foreign Minister Assad Hassan al-Shibani on Tuesday criticized Iran for “spreading chaos in Syria” and said the Iranian leadership would be held accountable for “the consequences of its latest comments.”
Shibani was referring to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Urge In his comments on Sunday, Syrian youth will rise up against their new government. Khamenei accused the US and Israel of seeking to oust Assad, whom Iran supported and kept in power during the long and brutal Syrian civil war.
“Young Syrians have nothing to lose. Their university is unsafe, their school is unsafe, their home is unsafe, their streets are unsafe, their life is unsafe. What should he do? They must be strong and determined against those who planned this insecurity and those who implemented it, and God willing, they will prevail over them, Khamenei said.
