Angry demonstrations erupted in the heart of deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite minority, according to a war monitor and witnesses, after a video surfaced depicting an assault on a shrine.
In the central city of Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that one protester was killed and five others injured “after security forces… opened fire to disperse” the gathering.
The monitor previously noted large-scale protests in the coastal cities of Tartus and Latakia, both strongholds of the Alawite community, as well as in other regions, including Mr. Assad’s hometown of Qardaha.
Witnesses confirmed to AFP that protests occurred in Tartus, Latakia, and nearby Jableh, with estimates suggesting the crowd numbered in the thousands.
The new Islamist rulers of Syria have attempted to reassure religious and ethnic minorities regarding the safeguarding of their rights.
An aerial view displays devastated structures near the Khalid ibn al-Walid Mosque in the center of Homs.
The transitional authorities, installed by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which spearheaded the offensive that deposed Mr. Assad, stated that the shrine attack was not a recent incident.
The video showing “the storming and attack” on the shrine in Aleppo is “old and dates back to the period of the liberation” of the northern city earlier this month, according to a statement from the interior ministry.
It explained that the attack was executed by “unknown groups” and that “reposting” the video was intended to “stir discord among the Syrian populace at this sensitive time.”
Images from Jableh displayed large crowds filling the streets, with some chanting slogans such as “Alawite, Sunni, we desire peace.”
“We demand accountability for those who attacked the shrine,” declared Ali Daoud, a protester in Jableh.
The state news agency SANA reported that police in central Homs instituted a curfew from 6pm (3pm Irish time) until 8am (5am Irish time), while local authorities in Jableh also declared a nighttime curfew.
‘Appeals for calm’
The monitor indicated that protests ignited after a video started circulating earlier this afternoon depicting “an assault by fighters” on a significant Alawite shrine in the Maysaloon district of Syria’s second city, Aleppo.
It reported that five workers lost their lives and that the shrine was set ablaze.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Observatory, mentioned that the precise date of the video was uncertain, but it was filmed earlier this month after the onset of the HTS-led offensive in late November.
AFP was unable to independently validate the footage or the incident’s date.
The rebel forces executed a rapid offensive, taking control of major cities, including Aleppo on December 1, before ousting Mr. Assad a week later.
Mr. Assad has long portrayed himself as a protector of minority groups within majority-Sunni Syria.
In Latakia, protester Ghidak Mayya, 30, lamented “violations” against the Alawite community.
“For the moment… we are paying heed to calls for calm,” he remarked, cautioning that excessive pressure on the community “could lead to an explosion.”
Fabrice Balanche, a Middle East scholar from France’s University Lumiere Lyon 2, estimated the Alawite population to be around 1.7 million, approximately 9% of Syria’s total populace.
“The Alawites were very closely aligned with Bashar’s regime,” he noted. “Their association with the regime heightens the risk of collective vengeance against them—particularly as Islamists deem them heretics.”
A man observes a pile of illegal drugs burning in Damascus.
Drug Bust
The new authorities, in the meantime, incinerated a large cache of drugs, as reported by two security officials, including one million captagon pills whose mass production thrived under the fallen regime.
Captagon is a banned amphetamine-like stimulant that emerged as Syria’s largest export during the civil war that has persisted since 2011.
“We discovered a significant quantity of captagon, approximately one million pills,” stated a balaclava-clad member of the security forces, who requested to be identified only by his first name, Osama.
Read more: Latest Middle East stories
An AFP journalist witnessed security personnel pouring fuel over and igniting a stockpile of cannabis, the opioid tramadol, and around 50 bags of captagon pills in a security compound previously used by Mr. Assad’s forces in the Kafr Sousa district of the capital.
“The security forces of the new government uncovered a drug warehouse while inspecting the security quarter,” revealed another member of the security forces, who identified himself as Hamza.
Authorities destroyed the alcohol and narcotics to “protect Syrian society” and “disable smuggling routes used by businesses associated with the Assad family,” he added.
So far, Syria’s new Islamist rulers have not detailed their stance on alcohol, which has historically been readily available in the nation.
Since deposing Mr. Assad, the new authorities have claimed that vast quantities of captagon have been discovered in former government sites across the country, including security branches.
