Protests in Syria after ‘old’ video shows attack on Alawite shrine

Thousands of people have protested in several cities across Syria after a video circulates showing an attack on an Alawite shrine in the north, a war monitor and witnesses say.

Syria’s new rulers said the video was “old” and “unknown groups” were behind the attack, saying “republishing” the video served to “stir up strife”, a day after hundreds protested in Damascus against the torching of a Christmas tree.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitor said “thousands of people” took to the streets on Wednesday with major demonstrations in the coastal cities of Tartous and Latakia, provinces that are the heartland of the Alawite minority, to which deposed longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad belongs.

SOHR also reported protests in the central city of Homs and Qardaha, al-Assad’s hometown.

Witnesses said demonstrations broke out in Tartous, Latakia and nearby Jableh, where images showed large crowds in the streets with some people chanting slogans including, “Alawite, Sunni, we want peace.”

The state news agency SANA said police in central Homs imposed a curfew from 6pm (15:00 GMT) until 8am (05:00 GMT) on Thursday while authorities in Jableh and two other cities also announced a nighttime curfew.

SOHR said the protests erupted after a video began circulating on Wednesday showing “an attack by fighters” on an important Alawite shrine in the Maysaloon district of Syria’s second largest city, Aleppo. It said five workers were killed and the shrine was set ablaze.

SOHR chief Rami Abdel Rahman said the video was filmed earlier this month after opposition rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a lightning offensive; seized control of major cities, including Aleppo on December 1; and ousted al-Assad a week later.

‘Yes to a free Syria’

However, the Ministry of Interior said on its official Telegram account that the video dated back to the rebel offensive on Aleppo in late November and the violence was carried out by unknown groups, adding that whoever was circulating the video now appeared to be seeking to incite sectarian strife.

The ministry also said some members of the former regime had attacked Interior Ministry forces in Syria’s coastal areas on Wednesday, leaving some people dead and wounded.

Protester Ali Daoud said thousands attended the demonstration in Jableh, adding: “We are calling for those who attacked the shrine to be held to account.”

Images showed a large crowd marching in the streets brandishing the three-star independence-era rebel flag.

“No to burning holy places and religious discrimination. No to sectarianism. Yes to a free Syria,” one protest placard read.

In the city of Latakia, protesters decried “violations” against the Alawite community, protester Ghidak Mayya, 30, said.

“For now, … we are listening to calls for calm,” he said, warning that too much pressure on the community “risks an explosion”.

Tartous resident and protester Alaa, 33, expressed concern that the situation could deteriorate, saying that “a single drop of blood risks us going back to a very bad scenario”.

Al-Assad long presented himself as a protector of minority groups in Sunni Muslim-majority Syria.

Alawites fear a backlash against their community both as a minority religious group and because of its long association with al-Assad’s family.

On Tuesday, hundreds of demonstrators protested in Christian areas of Damascus against the burning of a Christmas tree near central Syria’s Hama. The HTS promised to restore it promptly.

The country’s new leaders have repeatedly promised to protect minority religious groups, who fear that the former rebels now in control could seek to impose a conservative form of government.

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