Syrian authorities crack down on ‘remnants’ of Bashar al-Assad’s rule

Push comes as Syria’s new de facto chief Ahmed al-Sharaa met Bahraini, Libyan delegations in Damascus.

Syria’s new administration is finishing up a safety crackdown towards what it has described as “remnants” of former President Bashar al-Assad’s rule, with operations below manner in a number of components of the nation.

The official Syrian information company SANA reported on Saturday that authorities have been conducting “a large-scale sweep operation” close to town of Latakia on Syria’s northwestern coast.

The push — in an space the place al-Assad loved help from the Alawite group — got here in response to “reviews about [the] presence of parts linked to remnants of Assad’s militias”, SANA stated in a publish shared on social media.

Reporting from the capital Damascus, Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra defined that the brand new administration stated it isn’t focusing on the Alawite group, from which al-Assad hailed.

As an alternative, the authorities stated the safety operation has centered on troopers and Syrian military officers related to al-Assad and his brother, Maher al-Assad, a strong former navy commander.

“They are saying that [they’ve] issued an ultimatum to these folks handy over weapons to the brand new administration,” Ahelbarra reported, including that operations additionally have been being carried out in Homs, Aleppo and on the outskirts of Damascus.

The push comes days after 14 cops have been killed in what the authorities stated was an “ambush” by forces loyal to al-Assad within the Tartous governorate, one other space on Syria’s western coast.

Inside Minister Mohammed Abdul Rahman had promised on Thursday to crack down on “anybody who dares to undermine Syria’s safety or endanger the lives of its residents”.

Syrian opposition teams led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took management of the nation earlier this month after a fast offensive that ousted al-Assad after greater than 20 years in energy.

A political transition is below manner, with Syria’s new de facto chief Ahmed al-Sharaa – who headed HTS and beforehand had ties to al-Qaeda – holding talks with plenty of Arab and Western diplomats in latest days.

A number of international locations have urged al-Sharaa to make sure that non secular and ethnic minorities can be protected amid some latest tensions and fears that any unrest might negatively have an effect on Syria and the broader area.

“What occurs subsequent in Syria won’t solely have an effect on the Syrians themselves, nevertheless it might unfold past the nation,” stated Al Jazeera’s Ahelbarra. “For this reason persons are involved about what occurs subsequent.”

Al-Sharaa, also called Abu Mohammed al-Julani, met with a Bahraini delegation in Damascus on Saturday, in addition to with a senior official from Libya’s United Nations-recognised authorities.

“We expressed our full help for the Syrian authorities within the success of the vital transitional part,” Libyan Minister of State for Communication and Political Affairs Walid Ellafi advised reporters after the assembly.

“We emphasised the significance of coordination and cooperation … significantly on safety and navy points,” Ellafi stated, whereas the pair additionally mentioned cooperation “associated to vitality and commerce” and “unlawful immigration”.

In the meantime, Lebanese officers and a warfare monitor stated Lebanon expelled roughly 70 Syrian officers and troopers on Saturday, returning them to Syria after they crossed into the nation illegally by way of casual routes.

Many senior Syrian officers and other people near the al-Assad household fled the nation to neighbouring Lebanon after al-Assad was toppled on December 8.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based monitor, stated Syrian navy personnel of assorted ranks had been despatched again by way of Lebanon’s northern Arida crossing.

SOHR and a Lebanese safety official advised the Reuters information company that the returnees have been detained by the brand new Syrian authorities after crossing the border.