<\/p>\nListen to this article<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span>4 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<\/button>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Clashes between Syrian internal security forces and a militia linked to the ousted government of Bashar al-Assad have left at least four people dead in the Alawite-majority coastal province of Latakia, marking a significant escalation in the new government\u2019s fight to stabilise a nation emerging from years of ruinous civil war.<\/p>\n<p>The fighting erupted on Tuesday west of the village of Hamam al-Qarahleh in the countryside of Jableh. Security forces were responding to reports that members of \u201cSaraya al-Jawad\u201d (al-Jawad Brigades), a shadowy armed group linked to regime remnants, had launched an attack on security positions.<\/p>\n<p>According to the official Al-Ikhbariya TV channel, the confrontation killed at least one member of the Internal Security Forces. Security units managed to \u201cneutralise\u201d a top commander of the militia along with two of his associates, bringing the death toll to at least four.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"the-tiger-s-shadow\">The \u2018Tiger\u2019s\u2019 shadow<\/h2>\n<p>The emergence of Saraya al-Jawad represents a shift from disorganised loyalist resistance to an organised rebellion in the coastal heartland, traditionally the stronghold of the al-Assad family.<\/p>\n<p>Formed in August 2025, the militia is reportedly loyal to Suheil al-Hassan, the brigadier-general who commanded the notorious Quwwat al-Nimr (Tiger Forces), an elite unit in the former regime\u2019s army.<\/p>\n<p>The Ministry of Interior accuses the group of carrying out a campaign of destabilisation, including \u201cassassinations, bombings, and targeting public celebrations\u201d. The crackdown in Latakia comes as the transitional government, which took power after the regime\u2019s collapse in December 2024, attempts to dismantle \u201cdeep state\u201d armed cells.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"battles-on-two-fronts\">Battles on two fronts<\/h2>\n<p>The violence in the west coincided with a resurgence of attacks in the east earlier in the week, undermining the country\u2019s fragile stability.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, ISIL (ISIS) claimed responsibility for a series of attacks carried out on Monday on security outposts in Deir Az Zor province.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Al-Mayadin:<\/strong> A soldier was killed in an ambush on the city\u2019s outskirts.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Al-Sabahiyah:<\/strong> Two consecutive attacks on a security checkpoint left four security personnel dead.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Interior Minister Anas Khattab linked the two fronts in a statement on X, accusing \u201cremnants of the previous regime and ISIL\u201d of attempting to \u201ctamper with the country\u2019s security and target its successes\u201d.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"15\">Syria\u2019s interior ministry also confirmed on Wednesday the mass escape of relatives of suspected ISIL members from the Al-Hol camp last month following the withdrawal of Kurdish forces who had overseen the facility.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"16\">\u201cWhen our forces arrived, they found cases of collective escapes due to the camp having been opened up in a haphazard manner,\u201d ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said at a press conference.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"suspicious-timing\">\u2018Suspicious timing\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Analysts suggest the simultaneous flare-ups on the coast and in the east are likely not a coincidence.<\/p>\n<p>Brigadier General Munir al-Hariri, a strategic security expert based in Amman, told Al Jazeera Mubasher that the resurgence of these groups is \u201csuspicious\u201d, hinting at external manipulation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is something suspicious in this story,\u201d al-Hariri said. He argued that external actors who lost influence in Syria \u2013 specifically pointing to Iran \u2013 may be mobilising \u201cdormant cells\u201d within the former regime\u2019s intelligence apparatus and even facilitating ISIL activity to portray the new Syrian state as \u201cweak and incapable of controlling security\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe middle ranks of the [old] regime\u2019s intelligence had deep ties with these groups,\u201d al-Hariri added, suggesting a historical \u201cexchange of roles\u201d between regime loyalists and hardliners to create chaos.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"the-security-vacuum\">The security vacuum<\/h2>\n<p>However, Bassam al-Suleiman, a political researcher based in Damascus, attributes the spike in violence to the natural friction of a power transition and the withdrawal of international forces.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe organisation [ISIL] is exploiting the state of security imbalance resulting from the change in control and the withdrawal of US forces,\u201d al-Suleiman told Al Jazeera Mubasher.<\/p>\n<p>He warned that the vast Syrian Badia (desert) \u2013 which constitutes nearly 40 percent of the country\u2019s territory \u2013 risks becoming a safe haven for regrouping militants if the government does not act on a swift \u201ccrisis cell\u201d approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fear today is that the security vacuum in this desert will be exploited and turned into training camps,\u201d al-Suleiman said, calling for the government to engage Arab tribes in Deir Az Zor as a \u201csupport force\u201d against the rebellion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A shadowy armed group linked to regime remnants launches a deadly attack on security positions in Latakia, while ISIL kills soldiers in the east. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a04 mins info Clashes between Syrian internal security forces and a militia linked to the ousted government of Bashar al-Assad have left at least four people dead in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}