Syria announces end of military operation against al-Assad loyalists

Syria’s government has ended a security operation in the country’s western coastal region, home to loyalists of former leader Bashar al-Assad, the Ministry of Defence in Damascus reported.

Spokesperson Hassan Abdul Ghani made the announcement on Monday, saying in a statement on X that security threats had been neutralised in Latakia and Tartous provinces. Thousands, including many civilians, are reported to have been killed in days of deadly violence that prompted international concern.

“Having achieved [the neutralisation of the security threats] we announce the end of the military operation,” Ghani said. “We were able … to absorb the attacks of the remnants of the toppled regime and its officers” and push them from “vital” locations.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that nearly 1,500 people had been killed in the violence since Thursday.

The majority, the war monitor reported, were civilians killed by security forces and allied groups in the heartland of the Alawite minority, to which deposed President Bashar al-Assad belongs. Al Jazeera has not verified the report.

Syria’s interim leader President Ahmed al-Sharaa of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) pledged on Sunday to hunt down the perpetrators of the violent clashes and said he would hold to account anyone who overstepped the new rulers’ authority.

Al-Sharaa’s office also said it was forming an independent committee to investigate the clashes and killings carried out by both sides.

Abdul Ghani added on Monday that the security forces would cooperate with the investigation committee, offering full access to uncover the circumstances of the events, verify the facts and ensure justice for the wronged.

“We were able to absorb the attacks from the remnants of the former regime and its officers. We shattered their element of surprise and managed to push them away from vital centres, securing most of the main roads,” he said.

Rising instability

“We are paving the way for life to return to normal and for the consolidation of security and stability,” Abdul Ghani said, adding that plans were in place to continue combating the remnants of the former government and eliminate any future threats.

However, following relative calm in the weeks following al-Assad’s fall in December, instability and violence are starting to grow in Syria.

Security forces reported that they had repelled an attack on a security checkpoint in the capital, Damascus, overnight.

Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting from the capital, said two attackers, who were trying to target a government building, were arrested. Other gunmen managed to escape, the security forces told him.

“It’s still not clear if they are also part of the remnants of the old regime, or a separate group who wanted to attack,” Serdar said.

“It has been an intense week here in the heart of Damascus.”

The fighting on the Mediterranean coast began last week when pro-Assad forces coordinated deadly attacks on the new government’s security forces.

The ambush spiralled into revenge killings as thousands of armed supporters of Syria’s new leadership flocked to coastal areas.

Estimates suggest about 1,000 civilians were killed amid indiscriminate attacks, including reports of brutal murders.

The government then sent reinforcements to Latakia and Tartous in order to regain control.

‘100 percent misleading’

Iran, a long-term al-Assad ally, denied on Monday any involvement in the violence.

Media reports including from the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV channel have suggested that Iran and allied groups in the region were behind the violence.

Al-Sharaa had blamed the violence on “attempts by the remnants of the toppled regime and foreign parties behind them to create renewed sedition and pull our country into civil war”.

Regional media had then followed up by pointing the finger at Tehran.

However, a spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the accusation and condemned attacks on minorities in Syria.

“This accusation is completely ridiculous and rejected, and we think that pointing the finger of accusation at Iran and Iran’s friends is wrongly addressed, a deviant trend, and a hundred percent misleading,” Esmaeil Baghaei said.

“There is no justification for the attacks on parts of the Alawite, Christian, Druze and other minorities, which have truly wounded the emotions and conscience of both the countries of the region and internationally,” he added.

Tehran helped to prop up al-Assad during the country’s long civil war and provided him with military advisers.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that Tehran has remained “an observer” of the situation in Syria since the takeover by HTS.

“We have no relationship with the current Syrian government, and we are not in a hurry in this regard,” he said.