Syrian Islamist rulers' fighters clash with Assad's supporters

DAMSCUS,— Clashes between Islamist fighters who took over Syria and supporters of Syria’s former President Bashar Assad have left at least six militants dead and others wounded, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group.

The violence erupted as fighters from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, which spearheaded the offensive that led to Assad’s ouster earlier this month, attempted to arrest a former official from Assad’s government. The official is accused of issuing execution orders and making arbitrary decisions against thousands of prisoners during his time in office.

The HTS Islamist fighters were reportedly killed during the operation in northern Syria. While Assad’s fall from power was relatively swift, with his government and military forces quickly dissolving, the future of the country remains uncertain.

The insurgents now in control are rooted in hardline Islamist ideology and have pledged to establish a pluralistic society, but it is unclear how, or whether, they will share power.

Since Assad’s fall, sectarian violence has been on the rise, with revenge killings targeting members of Assad’s Alawite community, an offshoot of Shiite Islam to which the former president belongs. Activists and monitors report that dozens have been killed in such attacks, including those in areas like Homs and Damascus.

Tensions flared in the capital Wednesday as Alawite protesters clashed with Sunni counter-protesters. Gunfire was heard, but the details of the incident could not be independently confirmed.

Protests also took place in coastal areas of Syria and in the countryside of Hama. Some of the protesters called for the release of former Syrian soldiers imprisoned by HTS.

At least one protester was killed and five others were wounded when HTS forces cracked down on demonstrations in Homs, the Syrian Observatory said. In response to the unrest, HTS authorities imposed a curfew from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.

The protests were partly sparked by a video showing the burning of an Alawite shrine, though the interim authorities insisted the footage was outdated and not a recent event. Despite the tensions, the violence has remained far below the levels of fear that gripped the country during the height of the 14-year civil war, which claimed roughly half a million lives.

In a sign of tentative recovery, some displaced Syrians began returning to their homes this week. However, many found their homes reduced to rubble or severely damaged. In the northwestern city of Idlib, residents worked to repair businesses and seal broken windows as they sought to restore normalcy to their lives.

The HTS controls much of Idlib and the surrounding province, which has long been under attack by Assad’s forces.

The new leadership, led by HTS, has pledged to protect religious minorities amid fears that the rise of Islamist rule may marginalize these communities. However, as tensions escalate and the country struggles to rebuild, the prospects for a stable, inclusive government remain uncertain.

This unrest follows a wave of instability since the fall of Assad’s government, underscoring the challenges facing the country as it grapples with its post-Assad future.

Elsewhere in Damascus, the newly formed authorities conducted raids on several warehouses, seizing large quantities of illegal drugs, including Captagon, a stimulant commonly used by Assad’s forces, as well as cannabis.

According to the interim government, they destroyed over a million Captagon pills and hundreds of kilograms of cannabis.

(With files from AP)