Gunmen attacked a place held by Syrian safety forces in Damascus in a single day, a struggle monitor mentioned Monday, elevating fears that the deadly violence sweeping Syria’s coastal area may unfold to different elements of the nation.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has monitored the Syrian battle since 2011, mentioned that unidentified gunmen threw grenades and opened hearth in a single day on a constructing housing authorities safety forces within the extremely fortified Mezzeh district of the capital, Damascus. Clashes with authorities safety forces ensued, and it was unclear if anybody was injured, the observatory mentioned. It added that an unspecified variety of arrests had been made.
There was no quick remark from Syria’s new authorities or on state information media, and the knowledge couldn’t be independently verified.
The assault got here because the nation was reeling from a spate of violence that erupted last week between fighters affiliated with Syria’s new authorities, headed by Ahmed al-Shara, and people loyal to the ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Greater than 1,300 folks have been killed for the reason that combating started, largely within the coastal Latakia and Tartus Provinces, the heartland of Syria’s Alawite minority, in accordance with the observatory. It mentioned on Monday that about 1000 civilians have been included in that determine, most of whom have been killed by armed forces affiliated with or loyal to the brand new authorities. The knowledge couldn’t be independently verified.
The violence has stoked fears of a renewed sectarian battle and introduced what seemed to be essentially the most severe problem but to Syria’s new leaders as they try to unite the nation after greater than a decade of struggle. The Assad household is Alawite and the sect dominated the nation’s higher class and highest ranks of the previous regime’s army.
Whereas state information media quoted a spokesman for the protection ministry, Col. Hassan Abdul Ghani, as saying on Monday that the “army operation” was over, the violence reportedly continued, as fighters affiliated with the federal government stormed a city close to the coastal port metropolis of Baniyas and set hearth to properties, in accordance with the observatory. .
Syria’s interim president, Mr. al-Shara, mentioned on Sunday that the federal government was forming a fact-finding committee to research the violence within the coastal areas and to carry the perpetrators to justice. But it surely wasn’t clear if he was acknowledging attainable killings by the hands of his forces or laying the blame on former regime components.
In an obvious bid to reassure the nation, he appealed for calm on Sunday and repeated requires Assad loyalists to put down their arms.
“We should protect nationwide unity and civil peace,” Mr. al-Shara mentioned at a mosque in Damascus, in accordance with video that circulated on-line.
