(9 Mar 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beirut, Lebanon – 9 March 2025
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Kareem Chehayeb, The Associated Press ++PART OVERLAID BY SHOTS 2-6++:
"An ambush attack that killed over a dozen Syrian security forces near the coastal city of Latakia quickly turned into the worst fighting that Syria has seen since its 13-year civil war. The surprise attack by Alawite gunmen loyal to former President Bashar Assad and the government’s counteroffensive derailed any efforts to bring about a semblance of security, a political call to Syria under its interim Islamist rule. Syria’s defense ministry says that security forces in large numbers have restored calm across the coastal province as fighting spread over the weekend. However, some Syrian rights groups say that hundreds of civilians from the Alawite minority sect have been killed in retaliatory attacks.The Alawite minority sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam that largely lives in the coastal province of Syria and the Assad family that ruled the country with an iron fist for over half a century were part of that sect. Now, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said that these were isolated incidents and vowed to crack down on the perpetrators who harmed civilians and mistreated prisoners. And later, he formed a committee tasked with investigating the incident over the weekend. But going forward, this is further going to complicate matters for Syria’s new authorities as they struggle to negotiate a settlement with the Kurds of the northeast and the Druze in southern Syria as they struggle to exert state authority across the war torn country. And elsewhere, the United States and Europe will likely be more reluctant to lift the sanctions on Syria, at a time where the country needs to rebuild its battered economy and pull millions out of poverty"
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Al-Janoudiya, Idlib, Syria – 8 March 2025
2. People praying by bodies of four security forces killed in clashes
3. Mostafa al-Shoghari, brother of killed security member, speaking at funeral
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Latakia, Syria – 7 March 2025
4. Various of new Syrian government security forces checkpoint
5. Vehicles loaded with armed personnel driving by
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Between Latakia and Tartus, Syria – 7 March 2025
6. Various of tank driving on highway between Latakia and Tartus
STORYLINE:
An ambush on a Syrian security patrol by gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar Assad escalated into clashes that a war monitor estimates have killed more than 1,000 people over four days.
The attack Thursday near the port city of Latakia reopened the wounds of the country’s 13-year civil war and sparked the worst violence Syria has seen since December, when insurgents led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, overthrew Assad.
The counteroffensive against the Assad loyalists in the largely Alawite coastal region brought havoc to several cities and towns.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 745 civilians were killed, mostly in shootings.
In addition, 125 members of government security forces and 148 militants with armed groups affiliated with Assad were killed. Electricity and drinking water were cut off in large areas around Latakia, the group added.
The Associated Press could not verify those numbers, and conflicting death figures during attacks in Syria over the years have not been uncommon.
Tensions have been on the rise since Assad’s downfall following sectarian attacks against Alawites, who ruled Syria for over 50 years under the Assad dynasty.
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