Syrian security forces use gunfire to disperse rival protests in Alawite heartland

Syrian security forces used gunfire on Tuesday to break up two rival groups of demonstrators in the coastal town of Latakia, heartland of the country's Alawite minority, witnesses and officials said.

Syria has been rocked by several episodes of sectarian violence since longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, who hails from the Muslim Alawite minority, was ousted by a rebel offensive last year and replaced by a Sunni-led government.

Witnesses said hundreds of Alawite protesters had gathered to demand a decentralised political system in Syria and the release of men they say were unjustly detained by the country's new authorities. Supporters of the government then gathered and began shouting insults at the Alawites.

About an hour into the Alawites' rally, gunshots were heard in Agriculture Square, one of two town squares where the protesters had gathered, according to two witnesses and videos verified by Reuters. One of the verified videos showed a man lying motionless on the ground with a wound to the head.

There was no immediate official word on casualties.

Noureddine el-Brimo, the head of media relations in Latakia province, told Reuters security forces had fired into the air to disperse the rival protesters, and added that unknown assailants had also fired on civilians and on the security forces.

He gave no further details but witnesses said both protests had broken up by the afternoon.

'THERE'S NO MORE SECURITY'

The rally had been called for by the head of the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council, Ghazal Ghazal, on Monday. He urged Alawites to protest peacefully.

"We demand to live in security, to go to school safely without kidnapping. This was the only place we used to feel security. Now there's no more security and we're exposed to kidnapping and fear," said Leen, who attended the protest but declined to give her last name out of security concerns.

Nearly 1,500 Alawites were killed by government-linked forces in March after Assad loyalists ambushed state security. Reuters reported that dozens of Alawite women were later kidnapped, though authorities deny they were abducted.

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former militant Islamist, has vowed to rule for all Syrians but the country's nearly 14-year civil war and the bouts of violence over the last year have prompted fears of further instability.