Fear grips residents after Syrian violence, as hundreds seek refuge at base

Credit: dpa/NAN)

After the outbreaks of violence in Syria at the weekend, activists said on Tuesday that members of the Alawite religious minority in particular are still afraid of new attacks.

“Everybody is terrified. Some people returned to their homes with the assurances of the security forces on the ground but others are still confined to mountain areas,” a resident of Banias told dpa on condition of anonymity.

He added that people in the coastal areas which witnessed violence, especially Banias, Jable, and Latakia, are mainly confined to their homes – especially men.

“Woman are buying the food and necessities for the homes, men are staying indoors with the children,” he said.

Around 1,000 people have also sought refuge in the Russian air base of Hmeimim on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told dpa.

The New York Times also reported the same, citing satellite images.

Hundreds of people were reportedly on the grounds of the Russian base in Hmeimim and the adjacent Latakia airport.

Russia was one of the closest allies of Syria’s deposed long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad.

The clashes began on Thursday. According to the new rulers in Damascus, armed supporters of the deposed al-Assad government attacked security forces in the coastal province of Latakia.

The transitional government responded with a large-scale military operation.

According to the observatory, a total of around 1,500 people were killed, most of them civilians.

Activists say the religious minority of the Alawites, to which Al-Assad also belongs, was particularly targeted.

The transitional government saw the outbreak of violence as an attempt by Al-Assad loyalists to plunge the country into a new civil war after over a decade of conflict before his December ouster.