“ANXIETY AND FEAR”
In some areas, residents started tentatively venturing out however many had been nonetheless afraid to depart dwelling after darkish and complained of a scarcity of primary provides.
“At the moment the state of affairs in Latakia is a bit calmer, individuals are out and about after 5 days of hysteria and excessive concern,” stated Farah, a 22-year-old college pupil who gave solely her first identify.
However with the state of affairs nonetheless “very tense”, she stated that “after six o’clock, you don’t see anybody on the street … the neighbourhood turns right into a ghost city”.
Clashes broke out on Thursday after gunmen loyal to the deposed president attacked Syria’s new safety forces.
The following violence killed 231 safety personnel and 250 pro-Assad fighters killed, in keeping with the Britain-based Observatory which depends on a community of sources inside Syria.
The authorities didn’t present any casualty figures.
Along with the mass killings of Alawites, there have been experiences of Christians being caught up within the wave of assaults.
Throughout a sermon in Damascus on Sunday, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch John X stated that “many harmless Christians had been additionally killed” alongside Alawites.
Obituaries had been shared on social media for a number of members of the small Christian group dwelling on the coast.
Sharaa’s group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which has its roots within the Syrian department of jihadist community Al-Qaeda, has vowed to guard Syria’s spiritual and ethnic minorities since toppling Assad.
HTS remains to be listed as a terrorist organisation by the US and different governments.
