Over 70 people were killed and dozens wounded on Friday in violent clashes between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to deposed ruler Bashar al-Assad in the coastal province of Latakia. The information about the clash was given by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
70 People killed in clash
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also stated updates about the number of the people killed via X post. Sharing about the same, the monitor wrote in a caption, “More than 70 killed and dozens wounded and captured in bloody clashes and ambushes on the Syrian coast between members of the Ministry of Defence and Interior and militants from the defunct regime’s army.”
How did the clash start?
The violence erupted in Jableh, a town in the province of Latakia, after the security forces launched the operations to wipe out Assad loyalists who had regrouped in the mountainous coastal region.
Earlier, the media reported that the number of deaths in the clash was 48, while SOHR described the fighting as the ‘most violent’ since Assad was ousted by Islamist rebels in December. The dead included 16 security personnel and 28 pro-Assad fighters, while others were wounded or captured.
Meanwhile, the clashes reportedly began when gunmen linked to an Assad-era commander, Suhail al-Hassan, attacked the security patrols and the checkpoints. In response, the government forces launched helicopter strikes on a village in Latkia.
Moreover, Latakia’s security director, Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kunaifati, told the local media that our security forces were clashing with the armed groups within the Latakia countryside. “The armed groups were affiliated with the war criminal Suhail al-Hassan, who committed the most heinous massacres against the Syrian people,” he added.
