DAMASCUS: Syria’s new authorities on Thursday launched a security crackdown in a coastal region where 14 policemen were killed a day before, vowing to pursue “remnants” of the ousted Bashar al-Assad government accused of the attack.
The violence in Tartous province, part of the region that is home to many members of Assad’s Alawite sect, has marked the deadliest challenge yet to the Sunni Islamist-led authorities which swept him from power on December 8.
The forces launched the operation to “control security, stability, and civil peace, and to pursue the remnants of Assad’s militias in the woods and hills”, SANA reported.