Violence has erupted in Syria’s coastal region, a longtime bastion of support for Bashar al-Assad, the ousted president.
At least 70 people have been killed in clashes between government security forces and gunmen loyal to the Assad regime. Thousands of protesters have flooded the streets in the first wide-scale demonstrations against the new government. Residents have been ordered to stay indoors as security forces scramble to contain the turmoil.
This unrest is one of the most serious challenges yet to Syria’s new rulers, who swept to power in December after a lightning advance led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
Here’s what you need to know:
Where are the clashes?
The violence is centered on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, the heartland of the country’s Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam that makes up about 10 percent of the population. The Assad family, which governed Syria with an iron fist for five decades, are Alawites, and the sect dominated the ruling class and upper ranks of the military.
Since Syria’s new Islamist rulers swept to power, many Alawites have grown unnerved.
Syrians are demanding accountability for crimes committed under the Assad government, and the country’s interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, has pledged to hunt down and prosecute senior regime figures. Mr. al-Shara has promised stability and to safeguard the rights of ordinary Syrians from all sects. But the Alawite-dominated region has experienced low-level violence in recent months, often as a result of security forces trying to arrest former officers.