al-Shara, Ahmed (Abu Mohammad al-Jolani) (1982- )

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      What We Know About the Clashes in Syria

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      At least 70 people have been killed in clashes between government forces and gunmen loyal to the Assad regime, in a serious challenge to the country’s new rulers.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?Who are the Assad loyalists taking up arms?How have Syria’s new government and its allies responded?Where are the clashes?The violence is centered on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, the heartland of the country’s Alawite minority. About 10 percent of Syrians belong to the sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. 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.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Syrian Forces Deployed in Druse Town After Deadly Gunfight

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      An uneasy calm prevailed in the town on the outskirts of Damascus on Sunday, two days after a gunfight between local men and security forces.Syrian security forces were deployed across a predominately Druse town on the outskirts of Damascus, the capital, early Sunday, two days after a gunfight between government officers and armed men from a local neighborhood left one person dead and several others wounded.A tense calm has returned to the town, Jaramana, after the deadly clash Friday night between the security forces of Syria’s new government and the Druse, a religious minority. The person killed was a security officer, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which added that nine other people were wounded.Druse spiritual leaders blamed the killing on “an undisciplined mob that does not belong to our customs, nor to our known monotheistic traditions or customs.”There were conflicting reports about how the episode unfolded in Jaramana, but the clash was thrust into the international spotlight on Saturday when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said he had instructed the military “to prepare and deliver a strong and clear warning message: If the regime harms the Druse — it will be harmed by us.”The Druse are a religious minority with populations in Syria, including the Golan Heights territory, which Israel captured and illegally annexed, and in Lebanon and Israel.Newly graduated security forces in Aleppo, Syria, last month.Aaref Watad/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Israel Strikes Syria Hours After Country’s Leader Demands Withdrawal

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      The attacks in southern Syria are part of a new policy aimed at protecting what Israel calls its “security zone” in the region. Syria’s new government has condemned that policy.The Israeli military said it had struck sites in southern Syria on Tuesday, just hours after the new Syrian leadership demanded that Israel withdraw from territory it has seized since the fall of the Assad regime.The attacks were aimed at “military targets in southern Syria, including headquarters and sites containing weapons,” the Israeli military said in a statement. It added, “The presence of military assets and forces in the southern part of Syria constitutes a threat” to Israeli citizens.Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, said in a statement late on Tuesday that the attacks were part of a “new policy” of ensuring a “demilitarized southern Syria.” He added that “any attempt” by either Syrian forces or militant groups to establish a presence in what Israel has deemed its “security zone” in the region “will be met with fire.”That policy was announced by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday in a speech demanding “the complete demilitarization” of southern Syria. The speech and Israel’s actions drew the condemnation of Syria’s new government on Tuesday.The country’s interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, presided over a national unity conference on Tuesday that was intended to build consensus around the nation’s political and economic future. It concluded with a statement decrying Israeli incursions in Syria and rejecting “the provocative statements of the Israeli prime minister.”Syria’s new government said Israel was violating Syria’s sovereignty and a longstanding agreement, and called on the international community to pressure Israel “to stop the aggression.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More