Homs Police Command imposed a curfew in the central city on Wednesday, starting from 6 pm until 8 am, as part of intensive efforts to enhance security and stability in the city.
Military sources told Zaman al-Wasl that the Military Operations Department deployed additional forces from the General Security Department and the Military Operations Department in various areas of Homs, in addition to other areas on the Syrian coast, with the aim of confronting the security challenges witnessed by these areas.
The streets of Homs witnessed intensive raids on Wednesday evening targeting groups described as "remnants of the defunct regime", who are trying to destabilize security and terrorize residents.
These operations aim to impose complete control over the city and hold accountable the subversive elements who seek to spread chaos.
The security authorities confirmed that these measures come in the context of their keenness to ensure the safety of citizens and secure their daily lives, calling on residents to cooperate with the security forces and abide by the curfew to preserve their safety.
Angry protests broke out Wednesday in several areas of Syria after a video circulated showing an attack on an Alawite shrine in the country’s north, a war monitor and witnesses said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said large demonstrations took place in the coastal cities of Tartus and Latakia, provinces that are the heartland of the Alawite minority which deposed ruler Bashar al-Assad hails from.
The Britain-based Observatory also reported protests in parts of the central city of Homs and other areas including Qardaha, Assad’s hometown.
Witnesses told AFP demonstrations broke out in Tartus, Latakia and nearby Jableh.
Images from Jableh showed large crowds in the streets, some chanting slogans including “Alawite, Sunni, we want peace.”
State news agency SANA said police in central Homs imposed a curfew from 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) until 8:00 am on Thursday, while local authorities in Jableh also announced a nighttime curfew.
The Observatory said the protests erupted after a video began circulating earlier Wednesday showing “an attack by fighters” on an important Alawite shrine in the Maysaloon district of Syria’s second city Aleppo.
It said five workers were killed, adding that the shrine was set ablaze.
Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said the exact date of the video was unknown.
He said it was filmed early this month, after opposition forces led by “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” (HTS) launched a lightning offensive and seized control of major cities including Aleppo on December 1, ousting al-Assad a week later.
Homs
Dozens of protesters took to the streets in some neighborhoods of Homs on Thursday, raising sectarian slogans including "Alawite... Alawite" and "Labayk Ya Hussein", in response to the spread of an old video clip showing an attack on the shrine of Sheikh "Abu Abdullah Al-Khusaiby", one of the religious shrines of one of the sects in Aleppo Governorate, northern Syria.
The media office of the new Syrian Ministry of Interior indicated that today, on some social media sites, video clips were spread showing an incident of storming and attacking the shrine of Sheikh Abu Abdullah (Al-Hussein bin Hamdan) Al-Khusaiby, one of the religious shrines of one of the sects in Aleppo Governorate, and these clips were promoted as having happened recently.
The media office confirmed that the circulated video is an old video dating back to the period of the liberation of Aleppo city, which was carried out by unknown groups, explaining that the Ministry of Interior's apparatuses are working day and night to preserve religious properties and sites, noting that the goal of republishing such clips is to stir up strife among the Syrian people at this sensitive stage that Syria is going through.
The media office pointed out that as a result, some remnants of the defunct regime on the Syrian coast tried to exploit the rumors and targeted our forces in the Ministry of Interior, which resulted in a number of martyrs and wounded. The Ministry of Interior warned against spreading rumors that seek to destabilize and tamper with civil peace, stressing that it will not hesitate to pursue anyone who seeks to tamper with the security of our people and their property and bring them to justice to receive their just punishment.
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