Syria’s new authorities launched a sweeping security operation on Friday after clashes with fighters loyal to former president Bashar al-Assad, the biggest challenge to their rule so far, left at least 71 people dead.
The violence saw the fiercest attacks on the country’s authorities since Assad was ousted in December in a lightning offensive by Islamist-led rebels.
Restoring security has been one of the most complex tasks for the new authorities since Assad’s fall, which ended over 13 years of civil war triggered by his crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
A curfew was imposed in the coastal province of Latakia, the Assad clan’s former stronghold and home to a sizeable Alawite community, the same religious minority as the former president.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights’ latest toll, the clashes killed 71 people over the past day, among them 35 members of the security forces, 32 gunmen and four civilians.
The Observatory, a Britain-based monitor, also reported dozens of people wounded and others taken prisoner by both sides.
The defence ministry said it had sent reinforcements to the cities of Latakia and Tartus, with authorities also imposing curfews in Homs and Tartus.
