Damascus residents call for a 'Syria for all', as unrest spreads in Homs and Tartous

Record ID: 1892126

  • Title: Damascus residents call for a 'Syria for all', as unrest spreads in Homs and Tartous
  • Date: 26th December 2024
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (DECEMBER 26, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HAYAT TAHRIR AL-SHAM (HTS) FIGHTERS MAINTAINING SECURITY AFTER PROTESTS ERUPTED IN SOME NEIGHBOURHOODS OF DAMASCUS ON FRIDAY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN CITIZEN, MOHLAM KHALIL, SAYING: "There are two sects, the Alawite and the Assadi (referring to ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad), the Assadi sect that are trying to destabilise the security of the country, those will be burnt. Syria is ours, Syria is for everybody, it is not for the Assad family. There is no fear, the new government is capable to delete anyone who are anti-humans in Syria." VARIOUS OF ADOPTED FLAG BY SYRIA'S NEW RULER ON HISTORIC BAB TOUMA VARIOUS STREET SCENES IN DAMASCUS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN CITIZEN, ISSAM RAHHAL, SAYING: "There is no need for the events that happened in Tartous and they (HTS) must hit those who went out (in protests) with an iron fist because we were under the control of a bad regime. Why they are going out and doing all this chaos? By God's will there will be no civil war. All those were remnants of the previous regime." VARIOUS OF HTS FIGHTERS IN UMAYYAD SQUARE IN DAMASCUS
  • Embargoed: 9th January 2025 10:46
  • Keywords: Homs Syria Tartus security
  • Location: DAMASCUS, SYRIA
  • City: DAMASCUS, SYRIA
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East,Civil Unrest
  • Reuters ID: LVA001947126122024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Damascus residents called for unity on Thursday (December 26) after unrest in Tartous and Homs and an attack on police officers which left multiple dead and injured.
    Fourteen members of the Syrian police were killed in an "ambush" by forces loyal to the ousted government in the Tartous countryside, the transitional administration said as demonstrations and an overnight curfew elsewhere marked the most widespread unrest since Bashar al-Assad's removal more than two weeks ago.
    Syria's new interior minister said on Telegram that 10 police members were also wounded by what he called "remnants" of the Assad government in Tartous.
    Syrian police also imposed an overnight curfew in the city of Homs, state media reported, after unrest there linked to demonstrations that residents said were led by members of the minority Alawite and Shi’ite Muslim religious communities.
    Some residents said the demonstrations were linked to pressure and violence in recent days aimed at members of the Alawite minority, a sect long seen as loyal to Assad, who was toppled by Sunni Islamist rebels on Dec. 8.
    Reuters could not immediately confirm the demands of the demonstrators nor the degree of disturbance that took place.
    Small demonstrations also took place in other areas on or near Syria’s coast, where most of the country’s Alawite minority live, including in Tartous.
    The demonstrations took place around the time an undated video was circulated on social networks showing a fire inside an Alawite shrine in the city of Aleppo, with armed men walking around inside and posing near human bodies.
    (Production: Ayman Sahely, Kinda Makieh)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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