Fourteen officers of the interim Interior Ministry were killed and ten others injured in an ambush in Syria's northwestern province of Tartus, interim government minister Mohammed Abdul Rahman said.

security officials killed

The ministry said the killed officers were deployed to protect civilians. No further details have been given in this regard. Earlier it was reported that violent clashes broke out between local armed residents and security personnel of the military coalition led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Tartus province.

Local people protested

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights report, the fighting began in the village of Kharbet al-Majza when locals protested a house search by security forces. Armed residents set fire to a vehicle belonging to HTS.

A large convoy of fighters from the military coalition was heading to the area near Latakia province, saying their goal was to capture armed locals they believed to be linked to the previous regime. The fall of Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria earlier this month has heightened sectarian tensions across the country.

Incidents increased after the fall of Assad government

It is worth noting that Bashar al-Assad's government collapsed in Syria earlier this month. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had to flee the country. After the fall of the Assad government, several high-profile incidents have increased communal tensions across the country.

It is noteworthy that on Wednesday a video was also broadcast showing an alleged attack on a temple revered by Alawite worshipers in Aleppo. After which protests took place and accountability was demanded. At the same time, protests were also seen in many major Alawite areas, members of the community expressed concern that the new authorities are not taking enough steps to protect their religious symbols.

Amid all this, security agencies insisted that such incidents were isolated and warned that remnants of the former government could exploit communal divides to create discord.