The move comes as Syria’s new de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa meets Bahraini and Libyan delegations in Damascus.
The new Syrian government is carrying out a crackdown by security forces against what it calls “remnants” of the former government President Bashar al-Assad rule, with operations underway in several parts of the country.
The official Syrian news agency SANA reported on Saturday that authorities were conducting a “large-scale clearance operation” near the town of Latakia on Syria’s northwest coast.
The move – in an area where al-Assad enjoyed the support of the Alawite community – came in response to “reports of the presence of elements linked to remnants of Assad’s militias,” SANA said in a statement on social media shared post.
Reporting from the capital Damascus, Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said the new government said it was not targeting the Alawite community from which al-Assad came.
Instead, authorities said the security operation focused on soldiers and Syrian army officials linked to al-Assad and his brother Maher al-Assad, a powerful former military commander.
“They say they have given these people an ultimatum to hand over weapons to the new government,” Ahelbarra reported, adding that operations were also being carried out in Homs, Aleppo and on the outskirts of Damascus.
The kick-off is coming days after 14 police officers were killed According to the authorities, this was an “ambush” by forces loyal to al-Assad in the Tartus governorate, another area on the west coast of Syria.
Interior Minister Mohammed Abdul Rahman vowed on Thursday to take action against “anyone who dares to undermine Syria’s security or endanger the lives of its citizens.”
Syrian opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) seized control of the country earlier this month after a rapid offensive overthrew al-Assad after more than two decades in power.
A political transition is underway, with Syria’s new de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa – who led HTS and previously had links to al-Qaeda – holding talks with a number of people Arabic and Western diplomats in recent days.
Several countries have called on al-Sharaa to ensure that religious and ethnic minorities are protected amid some new tensions and fears that any unrest could have a negative impact on Syria and the entire region.
“What happens next in Syria will not only impact Syrians themselves, but could spread beyond the country,” Al Jazeera’s Ahelbarra said. “That’s why people are worried about what happens next.”
Al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, met in Damascus on Saturday with a Bahraini delegation as well as a senior official from the United Nations-recognized Libyan government.
“We expressed our full support to the Syrian authorities for the success of the important transition period,” Libyan State Minister for Communications and Political Affairs Walid Ellafi told reporters after the meeting.
“We stressed the importance of coordination and cooperation… especially on security and military issues,” Ellafi said, while the two also discussed cooperation “on energy and trade” and “illegal immigration.”
Meanwhile, Lebanese officials and a war monitor said Lebanon expelled about 70 Syrian officers and soldiers on Saturday and sent them back to Syria after they entered the country illegally through informal routes.
Many senior Syrian officials and people close to the al-Assad family fled the country to neighboring Lebanon after al-Assad’s fall on December 8.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based monitor, said Syrian military personnel of various ranks were sent back through Lebanon’s northern Arida border crossing.
SOHR and a Lebanese security official told Reuters that the returnees were arrested by the new Syrian authorities after crossing the border.
