The new authorities that govern Syria announced this Thursday the start of a security operation in several neighborhoods of the city of Homsin the northwest of the country, to try to locate sympathizers of the overthrown regime Bashar al Assad who have not agreed to lay down their arms.
Among the objectives of this operation, which is carried out by the Department of Military Operations in collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior, is also the confiscation of weapons and ammunition that would remain hidden among the civilian populationaccording to the official news agency A LOT.
The French agency AFP He added that a person responsible for the operation specified that the objective is two districts where the Alawite minority lives, the community from which the deposed dictator Bashar al Assad comes.
A LOT later quoted a military officer as saying that authorities were notified weeks ago of that “remnants of Assad’s militias” remained in parts of Homs.
There has also been imposed a curfew in some parts of the city. “The Ministry of the Interior asks the residents of the Wadi al-Dhahab (and) Akrama neighborhoods not to go out on the streets, to stay in their homes and to cooperate fully with our forces,” he said. A LOT.
The administration formed in Syria after the fall of Assad in December has urged all groups that supported the old regime to give up their weapons and support the new authorities, which are still trying to set up a transition that can last several years.
The main person responsible for the offensive that overthrew Assad, Ahmed Hussein al Shara, also known as Abu Mohamed al Golani and leader of the group yihadista Hayet Tahrir al Sham (HTS), He has outlined a potential four-year deadline to complete all changes and has promised that the rights of all minorities will be respected.
“The ongoing campaign aims to search for former shabiha and those who organized or participated in last week’s Alawite demonstrations, which the administration viewed as incitement against” its authority, said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The shabiha were notorious pro-government militias that helped crush dissent under the Assad regime.
On December 25, thousands of people protested in several areas of Syria after the release of a video showing an attack on an Alawite shrine in the north of the country. The Ministry of the Interior declared that this footage was “old and dated from the time of the liberation” of Aleppo, in December.
Veteran Syrian activist Mouna Ghanem lashed out at the security raids in a Facebook post, warning against the “violation of the inviolability of homes and sectarian death threats.” He added: “We must unite to put an end to these practices and so that everyone understands that we will not accept a new Assad.”
The Alawites fear a violent reaction against their community, both as a religious minority and because of its long association with the Assad family.
Since taking power, Syria’s new leaders have repeatedly tried to assure minorities that they will not be harmed.
Last week, security forces launched an operation against pro-Assad fighters in the western province of Tartus in the Alawite heartland, state media reported, a day after 14 security personnel from the new authorities and three armed men died in clashes there.
(With information from AFP and EP)
