Security Tensions in Syria’s Coast and Interior Amid Calls to Avoid Sectarian Strife

Syria’s coastal and interior regions witnessed security tensions and sporadic incidents yesterday, accompanied by sectarian chants and attacks targeting residential neighborhoods in the city of Latakia, which has an Alawite majority, according to local sources. In parallel, calls were issued by political and social figures urging calm and warning against being drawn into sectarian incitement.

The sources reported that groups of individuals attacked neighborhoods in Latakia and chanted slogans described as inciteful, while local circles expressed fears of attempts to reintroduce Syria’s coast and interior into sectarian conflicts similar to previous events the country has experienced.

Reports also spoke of arrests targeting participants in peaceful popular protests that took place two days ago in several areas, including the city of Latakia, the city of Masyaf and its surrounding villages, as well as the villages of Bileen, Hweir, and Salib in the western countryside of Hama.

In a related context, media sources pointed to a state of security alert in a number of cities, coinciding with a wave of incitement described as aiming to provoke residents and push them toward confrontations of a sectarian nature.

In Latakia, local sources reported that dozens of individuals, some armed with bladed weapons and light firearms, carried out attacks on residential neighborhoods, while similar incidents were reported at the university housing in the city of Homs, without information indicating direct security intervention to contain the situation.

Regarding reactions, activists circulated an audio recording attributed to Sheikh Ghazal Ghazal, head of the Supreme Islamic Alawite Council in Syria and the Diaspora, in which he called for restraint and urged people not to be drawn into provocations and sectarian slogans, calling for calm.

The head of the Political Office of the Central and Western Syria Council, Mustafa Rustum, also called for avoiding strife and adhering to civil peace, stressing the importance of de-escalation at this stage.

These developments come after peaceful protests erupted in several areas, during which participants expressed demands related to security, an end to violations, and calls for political solutions that guarantee the rights of all citizens.