Syria: Dozens dead in clashes between regime forces and Assad loyalists

Fierce clashes in Syria’s Latakia province have resulted in the deaths of at least 28 fighters loyal to ousted President Bashar Al-Assad, along with 16 security personnel and four civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday. The battles, described as some of the most intense since Assad fled in December, erupted in and around the town of Jableh and nearby villages, according to the war monitor, which was cited by AFP.

Authorities in Latakia, a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect, imposed a curfew until Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. local time, according to Syria’s official SANA news. The UK-based Observatory stated that many of the slain security personnel hailed from Idlib, a rebel stronghold in northwest Syria that played a pivotal role in the country's 13-year civil war against Assad’s rule..

Meanwhile, SANA reported that security forces had captured Ibrahim Huweija, a notorious general accused of orchestrating hundreds of assassinations during the rule of Assad’s father, the late Hafez Al-Assa Syrian rebels, headed by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS), spearheaded the overthrow of Assad in December. (Read More)