Traditionally a bastion of loyalty to Assad, Tartus is now showing signs of internal fractures as residents are resisting security operations and pro-Assad factions are turning against the state apparatus.
Syria’s security forces launched a military operation on Thursday (December 26) in the coastal province of Tartus, targeting armed groups loyal to the deposed government of Bashar al-Assad.
This occurred one day after deadly clashes left at least 17 people dead, including 14 security personnel, in what appears to be a significant escalation within the fractured remnants of Assad’s former regime.
The operation aimed to “neutralize a certain number” of fighters and restore order in Tartus, a province long considered a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite community, state media said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group that relies on a network of sources inside Syria, reported three fatalities among the armed factions during the operation in Tartus city, describing them as “pro-Assad gunmen.”
The province has seen intensifying unrest over the last few days. On Wednesday, December 25, heavy clashes erupted in the town of Khirbet al-Maaza after security forces attempted to arrest an officer from Assad’s former government accused of being implicated in the abuses at the notorious Saydnaya prison.
According to the Observatory, casualties were high after resistance was put up by local armed groups, among them an ambush targeting security personnel.
