4 dead, dozens injured in Syria during clashes between Alawites and protesters

Clashes broke out on Syrias coast between protesters from the Alawite religious minority and counterdemonstrators on Sunday killing at least four people and injuring dozens of others health officials saidThe clashes came two days after a bombing at an Alawite mosque in the city of Homs killed eight people and wounded 18 others during prayers Thousands of protesters gathered in the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous and elsewhereOfficials have said that preliminary investigations indicate that explosive devices were planted inside the mosque in Homs but authorities have not publicly identified a suspect in Fridays bombing Funerals for the dead were held on SaturdayA littleknown group calling itself Saraya Ansar alSunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect an offshoot of Shiite Islam whom hardline Islamists consider to be apostatesSundays demonstrations were called for by Ghazal Ghazal an Alawite sheikh living outside of Syria who heads a group called the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the DiasporaAn Associated Press photographer in Latakia saw progovernment counterprotesters throw rocks at the Alawite demonstrators while a group of protesters beat a counterdemonstrator who crossed to their side Security forces tried to break up the two sides and fired into the air in an attempt to disperse themSyrias staterun television reported that two members of the security forces were wounded in the area of Tartous after someone threw a hand grenade at a police station and cars belonging to security forces were set on fire in LatakiaLater staterun news agency SANA reported that a member of the security forces was killed by gunfireThe AP photographer in Latakia saw the bodies of four people killed in the clashes in local hospitals Three of them had head wounds that appeared consistent with being hit by rocks while one had a bullet wound in the chestThe staterun SANA news agency said 60 people were wounded by stabbings blows from stones and gunfire targeting both security personnel and civiliansThe country has experienced several waves of sectarian clashes since the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive in December 2024 that brought to an end nearly 14 years of civil war Assad an Alawite fled the country to RussiaIn March an ambush carried out by Assads supporters against security forces triggered days of violence that left hundreds of people dead most of them Alawites Since then although the situation has calmed Alawites have been targeted sporadically in sectarian attacks They have also complained of discrimination against them in public employment since Assads fall and of young Alawite men detained without chargesDuring the rein of the Assad dynasty Alawites were overrepresented in government jobs and in the army and security forcesGovernment officials condemned Fridays attack and promised to hold perpetrators accountable but have not yet announced any arrestsWe went out to protest the incidents of killing and the marginalisation and arrests and detentions and the employees who were fired said Hussein Abbas an engineer who joined the Alawite protestCounterprotester Mohammed Ismail from Latakia blamed spoilers who benefitted from the former system under Assad for sowing discordWe are calling for one Syria and one people and they do not want that he said They want to return us to chaos so they can benefitThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever