Syrian defense ministry says completed military operations against al-Assad loyalists

A Syrian military operation against loyalists of ousted former President Bashar al-Assad has been completed, the defense ministry said on Monday.

Clashes between al-Assad loyalists and the country’s new rulers in the former president’s coastal heartland have killed more than 1,000 people, mostly civilians, according to a war monitoring group.

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Hassan Abdul Ghany, the defense ministry spokesperson, said in a statement on X that public institutions were now able to resume their work and provide essential services.

“We are paving the way for life to return to normal and for the consolidation of security and stability,” Abdul Ghany said.

He added that plans were in place to continue combating the remnants of the former government and eliminate any future threats.

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed on Sunday to hunt down the perpetrators of the violent clashes and said he would hold to account anyone who overstepped the new rulers’ authority.

Al-Sharaa’s office also said it was forming an independent committee to investigate the clashes and killings carried out by both sides.

Abdul Ghany added that the security forces would cooperate with the investigation committee, offering full access to uncover the circumstances of the events, verify the facts and ensure justice for the wronged.

“We were able to absorb the attacks from the remnants of the former regime and its officers. We shattered their element of surprise and managed to push them away from vital centers, securing most of the main roads,” he said.

Though relative calm followed al-Assad’s ousting in December, violence has escalated in recent days as forces linked to the new rulers began cracking down on a growing insurgency from the minority Alawite sect.

The fighting spiraled into revenge killings against Alawites, an offshoot of Shia Islam that is the faith of some of al-Assad’s most ardent supporters and became associated with al-Assad’s wartime atrocities against Syria’s mostly Sunni Muslim population.

The British-based Syrian Observatory reported that more than 1,000 people were killed during two days of fighting, including 745 civilians, 125 members of the Syrian security forces and 148 fighters loyal to al-Assad.

Al-Assad fled to Russia last year after armed opposition fighters led by al-Sharaa’s “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” group toppled his government, ending decades of severe repression and a devastating civil war.

With Reuters

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