BEIRUT, December 28. /TASS/. More than 100 protesters have been detained in the Syrian city of Latakia amid riots, the Al Hadath television channel reported.

According to the television channel, Latakia’s Al-Azhari Square has been clocked by the new Syrian government’s security forces. According to earlier reports, three people were killed and more than 60 were wounded in shootouts between law enforcement and armed men who were seen among the demonstrators.

According to Syrian interior ministry spokesman, Nour al-Din al-Baba, said, the interim government guarantees people’s right to peaceful protests but urges them not to succumb to calls for violence and riots.

The protests followed the calls by the head of the Alawite Islamic Council, Sheikh Gazal Gazal, for decentralization and autonomous governance for the Alawite minority living in Syria’s western governorates along the Mediterranean coast.

The defense ministry has deployed additional forces and armored vehicles to Latakia and Tartus.

A wave of demonstrations swept across Syrian western governorates on November 25 and 26. The demonstrators demanded the release of arrested activists. Clashes with the police and casualties on both sides were reported in a number of localities.