by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
DAMASCUS/LATAKIA (Worthy News) – At least four people were killed and around 60 others injured on Sunday as protests by members of Syria’s Alawite minority turned violent along the country’s Mediterranean coast, after a deadly bombing at a mosque earlier in the week, officials said.
The unrest erupted in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, where thousands of protesters gathered to demand greater security after Friday’s attack at an Alawite mosque in Homs, which reportedly killed eight worshippers and wounded 18 others during prayers.
Witnesses and state media said clashes broke out between demonstrators, counter-protesters, and security forces. Syria’s state news agency SANA reported that a member of the security forces was killed by gunfire, while dozens of civilians and officers were wounded by stabbings, stones, and gunfire.
Vehicles belonging to security forces were set ablaze in Latakia, and a hand grenade attack wounded officers near a police station in Tartus.
Reporters saw the bodies of four people killed in local hospitals in Latakia, with injuries consistent with beatings by stones and one gunshot wound.
ALAWITE CLERIC IN EXILE
Security forces fired shots into the air in an attempt to disperse crowds, witnesses said.
The protests were called by an Alawite cleric in exile and followed funerals for victims of the Homs mosque bombing.
A little-known Islamic extremist group calling itself Saraya Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility in an online statement. Authorities said the investigation is ongoing and that no arrests have been announced.
Christian leaders and rights advocates have said that renewed sectarian violence heightened fears among Christian communities, especially in mixed areas along the coast and in central Syria.
They warned that Christians—already a small and vulnerable minority after years of war—could be caught in the crossfire as tensions rise.
TRYING TO PREVENT REPRISALS
Church sources urged authorities to guarantee protection for all civilians and to prevent reprisals against minorities, stressing the need for restraint and accountability.
The violence underscores Syria’s fragile security situation after the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
Although his reign ended nearly 14 years of civil war, it but was followed by waves of sectarian clashes.
Government officials condemned the mosque bombing and urged calm, while community leaders appealed for national unity as tensions remain high.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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