In Syria, the forces of the new regime launch an operation in Homs

The operation targets neighborhoods of the Alawite minority from which Bashar al-Assad's clan comes. According to those in power, certain members of “Assad's militias” have still not handed over their weapons to the new regime.

Syrian security forces launched an attack on Thursday, January 2 “large-scale mop-up operation” in Homs, a city in central Syria, announced official media, targeting neighborhoods of the Alawite minority from which Bashar al-Assad's clan comes, according to an NGO. The operation targets “war criminals and people involved in crimes, who refused to hand over their weapons and go to regularization centers” as well as “fugitives, hidden ammunition and weapons”according to a security official cited by the Sana agency.

The authorities add that they have been informed that members “Assad’s militias” were still in parts of Homs and had not handed over their weapons to the new power. Since the lightning offensive led by Islamist rebels which allowed them to take power in December, the transitional government has been registering former conscripts and soldiers and asking them to hand over their weapons.

The authorities imposed a curfew in some neighborhoods and sent infantry troops and “armored forces” to search “those who refuse to regularize their situation and hand over their weapons” in Homs, Sana reported. The Interior Ministry called on residents of predominantly Alawite neighborhoods to “stay at home and cooperate fully with our forces”.

“A tank entered our neighborhood and we heard calls over loudspeakers asking us to move away from the windows, and heavy gunfire”a witness from the Akrama district told AFP, on condition of anonymity. “We heard that they were entering houses and searching them, and that young men were being arrested there”he added.

The operation targets neighborhoods with an Alawite majority, the minority branch of Shiite Islam from which ousted President Bashar al-Assad comes, said Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “The campaign aims to search for former members of the shabiha [milices pro-gouvernementales] and those who organized or participated in the Alawite protests last week, which the administration saw as incitement against its authority.”he clarified.

“What is happening today in Homs, the violation of homes and the sectarian death threats (…) threatens the unity of Syria”declared Mouna Ghanem, a former opponent of the overthrown regime, on Facebook. “We must unite (…) and make everyone understand that we will not accept a new lion”she added.