Clashes broke out on Syria’s coast between protesters from the Alawite religious minority and counter-demonstrators on Sunday, two days after a bombing at an Alawite mosque in the city of Homs killed eight people and wounded 18 others during prayers.
Thousands of protesters gathered in the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous, and elsewhere. Officials have said that preliminary investigations indicate that explosive devices were planted inside the mosque in Homs, but authorities haven’t publicly identified a suspect yet in Friday’s bombing. Funerals for the dead were held on Saturday.
A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel, in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam whom hard-line Islamists consider to be apostates.
Read moreIslamist militant group claims deadly bombing of Alawite mosque in Syria's Homs
Sunday’s demonstrations were called for by Ghazal Ghazal, an Alawite sheikh living outside of Syria who heads a group called the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the Diaspora.
Monitor claims two dead
An Associated Press photographer in Latakia saw pro-government counterprotesters throw rocks at the Alawite demonstrators, while a group of protesters beat a counterdemonstrator who crossed to their side.
According to The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least two people were killed as security forces tried to disperse the protests – and a medical source said two bodies had been taken to a local hospital.
Syrian authorities did not confirm they had opened fire but said they had “contained the situation”. They accused what they called “remnants” of former ruler Bashar al-Assad’s government of attacking security forces.
Syria’s state-run television also reported that two members of the security forces had been wounded in the area of Tartous after someone threw a hand grenade at a police station. Cars belonging to security forces were also set on fire in Latakia.
Waves of sectarian violence since Assad’s downfall
The country has experienced several waves of sectarian clashes since the fall of former president Assad in a lightning rebel offensive in December 2024 that brought to an end nearly 14 years of civil war. Assad, an Alawite, fled the country to Russia.
In March, an ambush carried out by Assad’s supporters against security forces triggered days of violence that left hundreds of people dead, most of them Alawites. Since then, although the situation has calmed, Alawites have been targeted sporadically in sectarian attacks. They have also complained of discrimination against them in public employment since Assad’s fall and of young Alawite men detained without charges.
During the rein of the Assad dynasty, Alawites were over-represented in government jobs and in the army and security forces.
Government officials condemned Friday’s attack and promised to hold perpetrators accountable, but have not yet announced any arrests.
(FRANCE 24 with AP and AFP)
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