A protester has been killed in demonstrations which have broken out across Syria after a video showing an attack on an Alawite shrine circulated on social media.

The protests broke out in the heartland of deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad, who belonged to the Alawite minority and long presented himself as a protector of minority groups in Sunni-majority Syria.

In the central city of Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said one demonstrator was killed and five others wounded “after security forces... opened fire to disperse” the crowd.

The Observatory said earlier on Wednesday that thousands had taken part in demonstrations in the coastal cities of Tartus and Latakia, both Alawite strongholds, as well as other areas including Assad’s home town of Qardaha.

Protests erupted after a video began circulating earlier on Wednesday showing “an attack by fighters” on an important Alawite shrine in the Maysaloon district of Syria’s second city Aleppo, it added.

It said five workers were killed and that the shrine was set ablaze.

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said the exact date of the video was unknown, but that it was filmed early this month, after the HTS-led offensive began in late November.

The AFP news agency was unable to independently verify the footage or the date of the incident.