TUNIS, March 7. /TASS/. Syria's security forces under the new authorities have taken control over the city of Tartus and will soon begin mopping it up of armed supporters of the country's former President Bashar Assad, the operation’s commander said.
"Our forces have established control over the city of Tartus and have begun to deploy forces in its neighborhoods," the Al-Ikhbaria TV channel quoted the commander as saying. "We will launch a large-scale operation to mop up the city of Tartus and the surrounding settlements," he said.
The commander also said that security forces had "eliminated a large number of former regime fighters and confiscated weapons and ammunition." He added that armed Assad supporters "set up ambushes and roadblocks along the road connecting [the city of] Homs and the coast" of the Mediterranean Sea.
On March 6, clashes between security forces and pro-Assad militias began in various districts of Latakia. The fiercest fighting took place in the town of Jebla, home to the Alawites, a religious minority to which the Assad family belongs. Not far from Jebla is the Russian Khmeimim airbase.
Security forces said the gunmen involved in the clashes were linked to former special forces commander Suhayl Hasan. At least 15 Syrian security officials have been killed in the fighting, according to Al Jazeera.
Curfews have been imposed in the governorates of Latakia, Tartus, and Homs due to the ongoing clashes, which have become the most intense since the country's shift of power in December 2024.