At least 13 members of Syria's security forces were killed on Thursday in clashes with militants linked to Bashar al-Assad's ousted regime, a Syrian broadcaster reported, some of the worst violence the Islamist-led government has faced since toppling him in December.
Syria TV, which is aligned with the new Damascus administration, said the clashes were continuing in the Jableh region, part of the coastal area which forms the heartland of the Alawite minority sect to which the Assad family belongs.
The coastal region has emerged as one of the main security challenges for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa as his government works to consolidate control.
'Remnants of Assad's militias' attacked in several areas in unified way
Syria's state news agency SANA, citing a defense ministry source, said "remnants of Assad's militias" had attacked in several areas in a unified way. Reinforcements were on their way to the Jableh area to support security forces, it said.
Earlier this week, two members of the defense ministry were killed in the city of Latakia by groups identified by state media as Assad militia remnants.
Tensions have also stirred deadly violence in Syria's southwest this week, with security officials reporting around a dozen people killed in the town of al-Sanamayn in two days of violence on Tuesday and Wednesday.