Two days after a bombing at an Alawite mosque in Homs that killed eight people and wounded 18, protesters from Syria's Alawite minority clashed with counter-protesters, the Associated Press reported, BTA reports.
Thousands of protesters gathered in the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartus, as well as elsewhere in the country.
According to official sources, explosive devices were planted in the Homs mosque, but no suspect has been identified at this time. The victims were buried today.
The little-known group “Saraya Ansar al-Sunna“ claimed responsibility for the attack in a message on “Telegram“. The statement said the attack was directed against Alawites, a branch of Shiite Islam considered apostate by hardline Islamists.
Today's protest was called by Sheikh Ghazal Ghazal, who lives outside Syria and heads the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the Diaspora.
An AP photographer reported that in Latakia, pro-government counter-protesters threw stones at demonstrators, and a group of protesters attacked a counter-protester who crossed to their side of the barricades. Security forces fired shots in the air in an attempt to disperse the two sides. There were casualties, but the exact number was not known.
Syrian state television reported that two police officers were injured in Tartus after a grenade was thrown at a police station, and security vehicles were set on fire in Latakia.
Syria has been rocked by several sectarian clashes since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Assad, who is an Alawite, fled to Russia.
The government condemned the Homs attack and promised to punish the perpetrators, but there were no immediate reports of arrests.