48 killed as Syrian forces clash with Assad-linked gumnen

Fierce fighting between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to deposed ruler Bashar Assad killed 48 people on Thursday, a war monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes in the coastal town of Jableh and adjacent villages were “the most violent attacks against the new authorities since Assad was toppled” in December.

Pro-Assad fighters killed 16 security personnel while 28 fighters “loyal” to ousted President Bashar Assad and four civilians were also killed, it said.

The fighting struck in the Mediterranean coastal province of Latakia, the heartland of the ousted president’s Alawite minority who were considered bastions of support during his rule, reports Arab News.

Mustafa Kneifati, a security official in Latakia, said that in “a well-planned and premeditated attack, several groups of Assad militia remnants attacked our positions and checkpoints, targeting many of our patrols in the Jableh area.”

He added that the attacks resulted in “numerous martyrs and injured among our forces” but did not give a figure.
Kneifati said security forces would “work to eliminate their presence.” “We will restore stability to the region and protect the property of our people,” he declared.

The UK-based observatory said most of the security personnel killed were from the former rebel bastion of Idlib in the northwest.

During the operation, security forces captured and arrested General Ibrahim Huweija, a former head of air force intelligence, one of the Assad family’s most trusted security agencies, according to state media reports.

Tensions have been particularly acute in the mountainous coastal region where the Syrian government has deployed many of its forces and where residents reported hearing heavy gunfire in several cities and villages as tension spread on Thursday.