Scores killed as Syrian forces seek to crush Alawite insurgency

Syrian security forces battled for a second day on Friday to crush a nascent insurgency by fighters from Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect, with scores reported killed as the Islamist-led government faced the biggest challenge yet to its authority.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that more than 130 people had been killed in two days of violence in the coastal region of western Syria, which is heavily populated by the members of the Alawite minority.

They included at least two dozen male residents of the Alawite town of Al Mukhtareyah killed by gunmen on Friday, the Observatory and two Alawite activists said, citing contacts in the region and video footage from the scene.

Syrian authorities said the violence began when remnants loyal to ousted leader Assad launched a deadly and well-planned attack on their forces on Thursday.

The violence has shaken interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's efforts to consolidate control as his administration struggles to get U.S. sanctions lifted and grapples with wider security challenges, notably in the southwest, where Israel has said it will prevent Damascus from deploying forces.

Syrians took to the streets to rally in support of the government in Damascus and other major cities, while Saudi Arabia and Turkey, both allies of the government, also signalled their backing.

Images from Al Mukhtareyah showed at least 20 men lying in close proximity - some bloodied - by the side of a road in the town centre. Reuters was able to verify the location in the video, but not when it was filmed or by whom.

The two Alawite activists, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the killings were on Friday and blamed them on gunmen affiliated with the Islamist ruling authorities.

A government spokesperson and two officials linked to the ruling authority did not immediately respond to text messages seeking comment.

CURFEWS

Syrian state news agency SANA, citing a security source, said "individual violations" had been perpetrated after large, unorganized crowds had headed to the coastal region following the attacks on government security personnel. "We are working to stop these violations," the source said, without giving details.

The violence spiralled on Thursday when the authorities said groups of Assad-aligned militias targeted security patrols and checkpoints in the Jableh area and surrounding countryside, before spreading more widely.

Curfews were declared on Friday in the coastal cities of Tartous and Latakia, state news agency SANA said. Security forces launched combing operations in both cities and nearby mountains, it said, citing a security source.

A resident of Latakia city reached by phone said clashes had been going on there for 12 hours. Government reinforcements had arrived in the city, he said. A resident of Tartous said heavy gunfire was heard as government forces entered the city on Friday morning and began firing into the air.

Alawite activists say their community has been subjected to violence and attacks since Assad fell, particularly in rural Homs and Latakia.

While Sharaa has pledged to run Syria in an inclusive way, no meetings have been declared between him and senior Alawite figures, in contrast to members of other minority groups such as the Kurds, Christians and Druze.

ESCALATION RISK

The Assad-led government recruited heavily from the Alawite community for the security apparatus and bureaucracy of the Syrian state, which the Islamist-led authorities are seeking to remake, including through mass sackings.

While Sharaa has brought much of Sunni Muslim majority Syria under the sway of Damascus, important areas remain outside its grasp, including the northeast and east which are controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

"Cooler heads in the Alawite community must prevail. Escalation will only lead to greater repression and more deaths. The Alawites are weak and divided compared to state forces," said Joshua Landis, head of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

A statement by a grouping of Alawite clerics, the Alawite Islamic Council, laid blame for the violence on the government, saying "military convoys had been sent into the coast with the pretext of (combatting) 'regime remnants', to terrorise and kill Syrians". It called for the coastal region to be put under U.N. protection.

Saudi Arabia, which has offered diplomatic backing to Sharaa's administration, condemned "crimes being undertaken by outlaw groups" in Syria and their targeting of security forces. Riyadh "stands alongside" the Syrian government in its efforts to preserve security and civil peace, it said in a statement.

Turkey, a close ally of Syria's new government, also stated its support for Damascus. "At this critical juncture, the tension in and around Latakia, as well as the targeting of security forces, could undermine the efforts to lead Syria into the future in unity and solidarity," Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Oncu Keceli said.