Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa declared on Friday that the security forces will continue to pursue the remnants of the ousted regime so that they are brought to justice.
In a pre-recorded speech, he said the regime remnants were seeking to undermine the security of the country.
“They sought to test the new Syria that they are ignorant about,” he added of the clashes along the coast that broke out on Thursday between the new authorities’ security forces and loyalists of Bashar al-Assad's ousted regime.
“The remnants of the regime committed a horrible act and killed those protecting Syria. This is an unforgivable act against all Syrians,” Sharaa continued, urging the loyalists to lay down their arms and turn themselves in “before it is too late.”
“The new Syria is united,” Sharaa stressed. “The possession of weapons should be limited to the state.”
Anyone committing a violation against civilians will be held to account, he vowed.
The violence spiraled on Thursday when the authorities said groups of Assad-aligned militias targeted security patrols and checkpoints in the Jableh area and surrounding countryside, before spreading.
Moussa al-Omar, a Syrian media figure close to the country's new leadership, told Reuters that tens of thousands of fighters in Syria's newly constituted security forces had been deployed to the coast in the operation and order had been largely restored as of Friday night.
Curfews were declared on Friday in the coastal cities of Tartous and Latakia, SANA said. Security forces mounted combing operations in both cities and nearby mountains.
Syrians took to the streets on Friday to rally in support of the government in Damascus and other cities.
