DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Syrian police have imposed an in a single day curfew within the metropolis of Homs, state media reported, after unrest there linked to demonstrations that residents stated had been led by members of the minority Alawite and Shi’ite Muslim non secular communities.
Reuters couldn’t instantly affirm the calls for of the demonstrators nor the diploma of disturbance that befell.
Some residents stated the demonstrations had been linked to strain and violence in latest days geared toward members of the Alawite minority, a sect lengthy seen as loyal to former President Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled by Sunni Islamist rebels on Dec. 8.
Spokespeople for Syria’s new ruling administration led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, a former al Qaeda affiliate, didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon the curfew.
State media stated the curfew was being imposed for one night time, from 6pm (1500 GMT) native time till 8am on Thursday morning.
The nation’s new leaders have repeatedly vowed to guard minority non secular teams, who concern that the previous rebels now in management may search to impose a conservative type of Islamist authorities.
Small demonstrations additionally befell in different areas on or close to Syria’s coast, the place many of the nation’s Alawite minority stay, together with within the metropolis of Tartous.
The demonstrations befell across the time an undated video was circulated on social networks exhibiting a hearth inside an Alawite shrine within the metropolis of Aleppo, with armed males strolling round inside and posing close to human our bodies.
The inside ministry stated on its official Telegram account that the video dated again to the insurgent offensive on Aleppo in late November and the violence was carried out by unknown teams, including that whoever was circulating the video now seemed to be in search of to incite sectarian strife.
The ministry additionally stated that some members of the previous regime had attacked inside ministry forces in Syria’s coastal space on Wednesday, leaving a variety of lifeless and wounded.