Syrian protests left several dead

By Khalil Hamlo and Ramadan Al-Fatash

Damascus (dpa) — Violence broke out on Sunday between supporters and opponents of the Syrian government, leaving several people dead and dozens injured in the latest bout of unrest, activists and state media reported.

Two anti-government protesters were killed in the coastal province of Latakia after government loyalists and security forces attacked demonstrators, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Protests had erupted in several provinces, including Latakia, which is largely populated by members of the Alawite religious minority, the Britain-based monitoring group said, citing its network of activists inside Syria.

Similar demonstrations were reported in the provinces of Tartus, Homs and Hama. Dozens of anti-government protesters were injured after coming under gunfire and knife attacks, the group said.

Syrian authorities, however, blamed supporters of the country’s now-deposed ruler Bashar al-Assad for attacking security forces and civilians during the unrest in Latakia, resulting in three deaths, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA.

At least 60 others were injured in Latakia, SANA reported, citing health authorities.

The Interior Ministry meanwhile said one member of security forces were killed and others injured while securing protests in Latakia. It was not immediately clear if this fatality was among the three deaths reported by the health authorities.

Syrian protests left several dead

Two other security personnel were wounded after unknown people had tossed a hand grenade at a police station in Tartus, SANA said.

Images carried by SANA showed security forces, supported by armoured vehicles, deploying at the al-Azhari roundabout in Latakia, a focal point of Sunday’s anti-government protests.

The massive protests were in response to a call from prominent Alawite leader Ghazal Ghazal to demand the right to self-determination, the Syrian Observatory said.

Since al-Assad’s ouster in December last year, Syria, an ethnically diverse country, has been roiled by several instances of deadly sectarian violence, despite interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s pledges to protect minorities. Al-Sharaa led Sunni rebels in overthrowing al-Assad.

In March, al-Assad loyalists were accused of ambushing security forces in several Syrian provinces, triggering a large-scale military operation by the new government in Damascus.

The violence then spiralled and largely splintered along sectarian lines. Many of the dead were members of the Alawite minority, a Shiite Muslim sect, to which al-Assad belongs.