DAMASCUS, Dec 26, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Syria's security forces launched an 
operation on Thursday against pro-Assad fighters in the western province of 
Tartus, state media said, a day after deadly clashes with gunmen affiliated 
with the former government.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said three people were killed 
in the operation in coastal Tartus city, adding they were "armed men loyal to 
the former regime" of toppled president Bashar al-Assad.

Official news agency SANA said the operation had succeeded in "neutralising a 
certain number" of fighters, adding the objective was to "restore security, 
stability and the civil peace" in the region.

The situation in Tartus province, a stronghold of Assad's Alawite religious 
community, has been fraught in recent days.

On Wednesday 14 members of the security forces and three gunmen were killed 
in the town of Khirbet al-Maaza, according to the Observatory, as the new 
authorities sought to arrest an officer of the former government linked to a 
notorious prison.

The clashes in Tartus erupted after "a number of residents refused to allow 
their houses to be searched", said the Britain-based Observatory, which 
relies on a network of sources inside Syria.

The wanted officer's brother and other armed men had "set up an ambush for" 
the security forces, the Observatory said.

It added that "dozens of people" were arrested in Khirbet al-Maaza.

Unrelated protests broke out in other western cities and towns on Wednesday 
over a video showing an attack on an Alawite shrine, with the Observatory 
saying one demonstrator was killed by security forces fire in Homs city.