DAMASCUS (AFP) – Syria’s new authorities launched an operation in a stronghold of ousted president Bashar al-Assad yesterday, with a war monitor saying three gunmen affiliated with the former government were killed.
Assad fled Syria after an offensive wrested from his control city after city until Damascus fell on December 8, ending his clan’s five-decade rule and more than 13 years of civil war.
Syria’s new leaders from group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) face the monumental task of safeguarding the multi-sectarian, multi-ethnic country from further collapse.
Rooted in Syria’s branch of Al-Qaeda, HTS has moderated its rhetoric and vowed to ensure protection for minorities, including the Alawite community which Assad hails from.
With 500,000 dead in the war – sparked by Assad’s crackdown on democracy protests – and more than 100,000 missing, the new authorities have also pledged justice for the victims of abuses under the deposed ruler.
Yesterday, state news agency SANA said security forces launched an operation against pro-Assad militias in the western province of Tartus, “neutralising a certain number” of armed men.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, three gunmen linked with Assad’s government were killed in the operation.
