The attack comes after police imposed curfews after protests were sparked by an online video of an attack on an Alawite shrine.
Members of the Syrian police were killed in an “ambush” by forces loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad in Tartus governorate. This was the latest security challenge for the new government that came to power two weeks ago.
Syria’s new Interior Minister Mohammed Abdul Rahman said on Thursday that “remnants” of the Assad government were in Syria Tartus had killed 14 police officers and injured 10 others and vowed to take action against “anyone who dares to undermine Syria’s security or endanger the lives of its citizens.”
The attack came as protests Protests erupted in several cities after a video showing the destruction of an Alawite shrine in the city of Aleppo was shared online on Wednesday. Police had imposed curfews until 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) in Homs, Latakia, Jableh and Tartous. Al Jazeera could not confirm whether the curfew has been lifted.
The Interior Ministry said on its official Telegram account that the video, which showed gunmen walking into the shrine and posing next to human bodies, dates back to the rebel offensive on Aleppo in late November.
The ministry said the violence was carried out by unknown groups, adding that whoever distributed the video appeared to be trying to incite sectarian strife.
State media reported that residents of Homs said the demonstrations in the city were led by members of the Alawite and Shiite Muslim minority.
Some residents said the demonstrations were related to pressure and violence in recent days targeting members of the Alawite minority, a sect long seen as loyal to al-Assad and dominated by opposition fighters led by the Hayat Tahrir al -Sham (HTS) was overthrown. group earlier this month.
Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Damascus, described the situation in Syria as extremely delicate at the moment, with flashpoints in the last 48 hours, particularly in the Alawite heartland of Latakia and Tartous, as well as in Homs and Aleppo.
Hashem said the new government had massively increased security forces to try to reduce tensions in the areas.
“Yesterday, late last night, there were high-level meetings of the new government on the way forward and one of the options is a crackdown on the members of the Fourth Division, whom they describe as remnants of the old regime. “This was the elite presidential guard loyal to Maher al-Assad, the former president’s brother,” he said.
“But the new government is a little worried about the possibility of a bloody confrontation.”
Assad, who took over as president after his father’s death in 2000, fled to Russia after opposition fighters captured Damascus on December 8, ending more than five decades of Ba’ath Party rule.
The country’s new leaders have repeatedly promised to protect religious minorities who fear for their rights under the new government.
According to the Interior Ministry, several people were killed and injured in a separate attack by the former regime’s troops in the coastal region.
