Assad remnants accused of insurgent attacks in Syria's coastal region

Remnants of the ousted Assad regime attacked a Syrian army military vehicle in Latakia province on Thursday night, the country's interior ministry has said.

The ministry confirmed that the ambush caused no injuries, but said insurgent attacks have escalated in recent days, targeting Syrian army units in Latakia and Tartous provinces.

The ministry said security forces would continue to "protect all components of the Syrian people and preserve civil peace", warning against any attempts to destabilise security and stability in the Syrian coast, one of the most volatile regions since the fall of the Assad regime in December.

It comes after a wave of attacks by Assad remnants in March, which led to reprisals by government-linked forces killing hundreds of civilians.

In Daraa, southern Syria, an explosion targeted the town of Muzayrib on Thursday evening, causing material damage, according to the Houran Free League monitoring group.

In Raqqa, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)  in northeastern Syria, raided a house in Al-Karamah village and made arrests in eastern parts of the governorate.

Activist Mousa Khalaf told The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister edition that these operations have become a source of fear and anxiety for the people of Raqqa, especially young men. He said the most common accusations for the SDF arrests relate to alleged links to the Islamic State group (IS).

The SDF accused IS of targeting its fighters in the town of Gharanij in the countryside of Deir az-Zour on Wednesday evening.

In a statement issued on Thursday evening, the SDF said its members were targeted while off duty.

"Our forces carried out a precise military operation that resulted in the killing of one armed kidnapper and the wounding of three others," the statement read.

"The operation is continuing according to plan, and any attack on our members or our people in the area will not pass without a harsh and decisive response."

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.