Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, appealed on Sunday for calm and for unity as he moved to reassure the nation after days of clashes {that a} monitoring group stated had killed lots of of individuals.
“We should protect nationwide unity and civil peace,” he stated from a mosque in Damascus, in response to video that circulated on-line. “We name on Syrians to be reassured as a result of the nation has the basics for survival.”
The violence erupted last week between fighters affiliated with Syria’s new authorities, headed by Mr. al-Shara, and people loyal to the ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad. Scores of civilians have been killed, in response to two conflict monitoring teams, together with combatants on either side of the battle.
Mr. al-Shara’s remarks on Sunday got here as recent combating was reported within the countryside of the coastal Latakia and Tartus Provinces. A spokesman for the Protection Ministry, Col. Hassan Abdul Ghani, instructed state media that authorities forces had been combing the countryside for armed fighters loyal to the deposed Assad regime.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has monitored the Syrian battle since 2011, stated that authorities forces had been attacking with drones, tanks and artillery on Sunday. In different areas, it stated, authorities forces had been trying to find armed teams affiliated with the deposed regime’s army.
The clashes have centered within the coastal provinces, the place a lot of the nation’s Alawite spiritual minority — which dominated the governing class and higher ranks of the army underneath the Assad authorities, and which included the Assad family itself — stay. That has raised fears of a renewed sectarian battle within the nation.
Greater than 1,000 folks have been killed in Tartus and Latakia Provinces for the reason that combating erupted final week, the observatory stated early on Sunday. About 700 civilians had been included in that determine, most killed by authorities forces, it stated. The knowledge couldn’t be independently verified.
One other monitoring group, the Syrian Community for Human Rights, reported earlier that authorities safety forces had killed some 125 civilians. The group had not but up to date its casualty figures on Sunday. It stated that males of all ages had been among the many casualties and that the forces didn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The violence has been the worst for the reason that Assad authorities was ousted in early December by rebels who grew to become the nation’s new leaders. It presents a serious take a look at of the brand new authorities’s authority and talent to unify the nation, which has deep sectarian divisions after greater than 13 years of civil conflict.
