The fighting at Syria’s Banias Gas Power Plant exploded just hours after the country’s interim president, Ahmed Alshara, sought peace amid escalating joint violence that killed hundreds of civilians in coastal regions.
Syrian state news agency Sana reported on Sunday that a fight with security forces had erupted at the factory following an attack by “remains of the previous regime.”
Earlier on Sunday, Alshara said “the need to preserve national unity and domestic peace.” The newly appointed forces clashed with fighter jets from President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawites, so we can live together.
The fight began after Pro Assad’s fighters coordinated an attack on security forces on Thursday. The attack was caught up in a revenge killing as thousands of armed supporters of Syria’s new leadership went to coastal areas to support security forces.
At least 745 Alawi civilians have been killed in Latakia, and since Thursday, about 125 members of Tarastas and government security forces have been killed, according to the Syrian Human Rights Observatory, a British-based war monitor.
Additionally, 148 pro-Assad fighter jets were killed, and the station was added, bringing the overall death toll to 1,018.
Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify these figures.
UN Rights Chief Volker Turk calls for an immediate halt of Syrian violence.
“A rapid, transparent and impartial investigation of all murders and other violations is necessary, and the responsible person must be kept in line with norms and standards of international law, and the groups that terrorize civilians must also be held accountable,” Turkey said.
On Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the “genocide” of Syrian minority and called for the interim government to take charge of those responsible.
“Interim Syrian authorities must hold perpetrators of these massacres accountable to Syrian minority communities,” Rubio said in a statement.
“Relax about Syria, this country has its survival characteristics,” Alshara said in a video at the Mazza mosque in Damascus. “What is happening in Syria now is within the scope of the expected challenges.”
Alshara says anyone who targets civilians is accountable.
Later on Sunday, Sana reported that there was a “severe clash near Betanita village in the countryside of Tartas,” citing sources from the Ministry of Defense.
“Many war criminals belonging to the al-Assad regime and the armed wreckage group have fled to the village,” the report added.
“After restoring the security and stability of major cities, the second phase of the military operation aimed at pursuing the remnants and officers of the abolished regime has begun in the countryside of Latakia and Taratis.”
In a report from the capital Damascus, Al Jazeera’s resultsul serdar said the reality of what happened in the last four days has become more evident as the conflicts have decreased significantly.
“The photos that come out are really scary. There is a high number of deaths and the numbers are still being discovered by officials managing the area, so we expect them to increase in the next few hours and days. [bodies]. For now, it’s very difficult to clarify the exact number,” he said.
Seldar explained that the recent clashes are a harsh reminder of how divided Syria is despite previous claims that Alshara controls the country.
“Some of the unconfirmed lists [new] Cabinets are coming out and we can see that there are Alawian members, including Cabinet, Kurds, Turkmen, Arabs, Sunnis, Shias, Muslims and Christians. [which] This is absolutely necessary in this country,” he added.
On Sunday, the optical cable linking the governors of Deraa and Damascus was damaged, resulting in “disruption of telecommunications and internet services in the governors of Deraa and Sweida,” according to the director of the Deraa Telecom chapter.
In a press release, Ahmad Al-Hariri said the incident was “a result of repeated attacks on telecommunications infrastructure, leading to a reduction in critical optical cables connecting the two governors to major communications centres.”
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