Lethal sectarian violence erupted along Syria’s coast on Sunday, marking a sharp escalation in the instability that has plagued the country since the fall of the Assad regime a year earlier. The unrest centred on Latakia and Tartus, where protests organised by the Alawite minority descended into chaotic clashes with counter-demonstrators and security forces. At least four people were killed, and dozens were injured, deepening the rift between the new Sunni-led government and the Alawite community that had been the backbone of Bashar al-Assad’s rule.
The immediate trigger was a deadly bombing two days earlier. During Friday prayers on December 26, explosive devices detonated inside an Alawite mosque in Homs, killing eight people and wounding 18. A little-known militant group called Saraya Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement on Telegram, the group said it had deliberately targeted Alawites, reflecting hardline Islamist views that regard the sect as apostate.
Government officials condemned the attack and promised accountability, saying preliminary investigations confirmed planted explosives. By the time protests began, however, no suspects had been publicly identified or arrested.
For latest news and analyses on Middle East, visit: Yello! Middle East
After funerals for the victims on December 27, calls went out for demonstrations. The appeal came from Ghazal Ghazal, an exiled Alawite sheikh who heads the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the Diaspora. Formerly close to the Assad family before fleeing after the regime’s collapse, he urged Alawites to demand protection and political rights.
Thousands gathered in Latakia and Tartus and elsewhere. In Latakia’s Azhari Square, protesters called for a decentralised political system, the release of thousands of Alawite prisoners and an end to what they described as systemic marginalisation. The situation quickly turned violent.
Witnesses and journalists described a three-way confrontation between Alawite demonstrators, pro-government counter-protesters and state security forces. Security forces initially fired into the air to disperse the crowds. About two hours into the protest in Latakia, gunfire rang out from unidentified locations. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces killed two people while attempting to disperse the gathering, though the government denied targeting peaceful civilians.
Health officials and journalists confirmed multiple deaths and widespread injuries. Three victims suffered fatal head wounds consistent with being struck by heavy stones, while a fourth died from a bullet wound to the chest. Injuries included stabbings, blunt force trauma from stones and gunshot wounds among civilians and security personnel.
State television reported attacks on security infrastructure, saying a hand grenade was thrown at a police station in the Tartus area, wounding two officers. Cars belonging to security forces were set alight in Latakia. The state news agency SANA reported that a member of the security forces was killed by gunfire and blamed armed remnants of the former regime.
The clashes underscore the fragility of Syria’s transition after the end of the civil war. Assad, himself an Alawite, was ousted in a swift rebel offensive in December 2024, ending nearly 14 years of conflict and four decades of family rule. After he escaped to Moscow, a transitional government under President Ahmad Al Shara took over.
Alawites enjoyed preferential treatment when the Assad family was in power. Although they constituted about 10 per cent of the country’s population, they had disproportionate representation in the army and government jobs. The regime’s collapse has left many feeling vulnerable. Since the transition, Alawites have complained of discrimination, including mass dismissals from public employment and the detention of young men without charge. Supporters of the new government, however, argue that loyalists of the old order orchestrated the unrest.
The clashes fit a wider pattern of sectarian violence since Assad’s fall. Earlier this year, Assad loyalists launched an attack against security forces, leading to an extended cycle of violence that killed hundreds of Alawites. The group feels it is being targeted by the new Sunni regime and has been demanding decentralisation of power, a call supported by other minorities, including Kurds and Druze, posing a challenge to Damascus.