Govt forces, Assad loyalists clash in coastal Syria; more than 70 killed

Clashes between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to former President Bashar Assad in the country’s coastal region have left more than 70 people dead and an area outside government control, a war monitor said Friday.

Government forces sent major reinforcements overnight to the cities of Latakia and Tartus as well as nearby towns and villages that are the heartland of the minority Alawite sect and a base of support for Assad, to try to get the situation under control, state media reported.

The clashes are the worst since Assad was removed from power in early December by insurgent groups led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. Since Assad’s fall, there have been some sectarian attacks against members of his minority Alawite sect. These incidents have occurred despite the fact that officially the new authorities have said they are against collective punishment or sectarian vengeance.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said that since the clashes began on Thursday afternoon, 35 members of government forces, 32 fighters loyal to Assad and four civilians have been killed.