Fears of Renewed Clashes Between Assad Loyalists and Syria’s Government Linger

TaiwanPlus News

Syria's Mediterranean coast is recovering from days of violence between insurgents loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad and supporters of the interim government.

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00:00Qalm returns to the Syrian city of Latakia after violence that left hundreds of people

00:09dead.

00:10Shops have reopened and street vendors are back to work, though armed guards remain on

00:14the streets checking the IDs of passing motorists.

00:17The question now is whether this peace will hold.

00:21Located on Syria's Mediterranean coast, Latakia is one of the few remaining pockets of support

00:26for former President Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December 2024.

00:31Not only does the Assad family trace its roots to this part of the country, but the coastal

00:35strip is also the home of the Assad family's religion, followers of a minority form of

00:39Islam called Alawites.

00:46When some of these Assad backers attacked government forces Thursday, it set off a wave

00:51of revenge killings in coastal regions like Latakia by supporters of Syria's new government.

00:56Though Alawites may have been the target, the bullets were indiscriminate.

01:00Twenty-year-old medical student Shinda Kisho came from a completely different minority,

01:05the Syrian Kurds.

01:07She was killed by gunfire while sleeping in bed as fighting broke out around her home.

01:11Now her family are left to process their shock and grief.

01:32Syria's acting president says the attackers will be hunted down, and those who've committed

01:36violence on both sides will face consequences.

01:40He's also calling for unity.

01:56But the risk of more deaths isn't over, with security forces still on alert.

02:00Government forces think around 5,000 pro-Assad insurgents are hiding out in mountains nearby.

02:06It's a big blow to hopes for peace in a country that's already been traumatized from 13 years

02:10of civil war.

02:12In Latakia, relief at the end of the fighting is mixed with sorrow and unease.

02:36Even as life returns to normal, exiled President Bashar al-Assad's influence still lingers

02:47in this part of Syria.

02:48How the central government handles this reality will be crucial to the country's future stability.

02:54Kama Shu and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.

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