Uneasy calm returns to Syria’s coastal cities after deadly protests

LATAKIA

A sense of normalcy returned to Syria’s coastal regions on Dec. 29 after security forces were deployed in the wake of deadly unrest.

Latakia Governor Mohammed Othman told reporters that the situation was now “stable,” noting that “most demonstrations concluded without serious incidents.”

He also claimed that “wanted persons connected to remnants of the former regime and foreign agendas” had attempted to target security forces and sway protesters.

Clashes broke out on Syria’s coast between protesters from the Alawite religious minority and counterdemonstrators on Dec. 28, killing at least four people and injuring dozens of others.

The 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 elsewhere.

Officials have said that preliminary investigations indicate that explosive devices were planted inside the mosque in Homs, but authorities haven't publicly identified a suspect in Friday's bombing. Funerals for the dead were held on Dec. 28.

Government officials condemned the Dec. 26 attack and promised to hold perpetrators accountable.

A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar al-Sunna 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 hard-line Islamists consider to be apostates.

The Dec. 28 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 Diaspora.

Syria’s state-run 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 Latakia.

Later, state-run news agency SANA reported that a member of the security forces was killed by gunfire.

The agency said 60 people were wounded by "stabbings, blows from stones, and gunfire targeting both security personnel and civilians.”