Most of the civilians killed in the recent clashes were Alawites, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has monitored the Syrian conflict since 2011.
Who are the Assad loyalists taking up arms?
There does not yet appear to be a single unifying force responsible for orchestrating the attacks on Syria’s western coast.
The attacks against security forces on Thursday, however, were the “first time that pro-Assad loyalist activity demonstrated clear coordination and prior planning,” according to Charles Lister, the director of the Syria and counterterrorism programs at the Middle East Institute.
On Thursday, as security forces came under attack, a group calling itself the “Military Council for the Liberation of Syria” issued a statement vowing to overthrow the country’s new leadership. The statement announced the establishment of the group, and was signed by a former general in the Assad regime’s elite Fourth Division, which was headed by Mr. al-Assad’s brother Maher al-Assad.
It remains unclear if the former general, Gaith Dalah, established this military council himself, or if the group is claiming him as their leader, according to the Institute for the Study of War. But its formation comes on the back of similar announcements by a trickle of other pro-Assad armed groups that have sprung up since the government’s fall.
Anas Khattab, the new head of Syria’s intelligence services, said in a statement on Friday that former Assad regime military leaders were behind the violence, with support from unspecified “fugitives” outside the country.
How has Syria’s new government responded?
The government has cracked down hard on the unrest, pouring security forces into the coastal region amid reports by war monitors of sectarian violence carried out by fighters affiliated with or loyal to the country’s new leadership. Those forces sought to reestablish control over a few towns and villages that Assad loyalists had effectively seized between Thursday and Friday.
Mr. al-Shara urged Assad loyalists to lay down their arms, and said that the government had formed a fact-finding committee to investigate what had happened on the coast and to bring the perpetrators to justice. But it was unclear if he was acknowledging possible killings at the hands of his forces or laying the blame entirely on former regime elements.
“Everyone knows who is responsible for this disorder and plots,” Mr. al-Shara said.
