Syrian authorities crack down on ‘remnants’ of Bashar al-Assad’s rule

Push comes as Syria’s new de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa met Bahraini, Libyan delegations in Damascus.

Syria’s new administration is carrying out a security crackdown against what it has described as “remnants” of former President Bashar al-Assad’s rule, with operations under way in several parts of the country.

The official Syrian news agency SANA reported on Saturday that authorities were conducting “a large-scale sweep operation” near the city of Latakia on Syria’s northwestern coast.

The push came in response to “reports about [the] presence of elements linked to remnants of Assad’s militias”, SANA said in a post shared on social media.

Reporting from the capital Damascus, Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra explained that the new administration said it is not targeting the Alawite community, from which al-Assad hailed and enjoyed support.

Instead, the authorities said the security operation has focused on soldiers and Syrian army officials associated with al-Assad and his brother, Maher al-Assad, a powerful former military commander.

“They say that [they’ve] issued an ultimatum to those people to hand over weapons to the new administration,” Ahelbarra reported, adding that operations also were being carried out in Homs, Aleppo and on the outskirts of Damascus.

The push comes days after 14 police officers were killed in what the authorities said was an “ambush” by forces loyal to al-Assad in the Tartous governorate, another area on Syria’s western coast.

Interior Minister Mohammed Abdul Rahman had promised on Thursday to crack down on “anyone who dares to undermine Syria’s security or endanger the lives of its citizens”.

Syrian opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took control of the country earlier this month after a rapid offensive that ousted al-Assad after more than two decades in power.

A political transition is under way, with Syria’s new de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa – who headed HTS and previously had ties to al-Qaeda – holding talks with a number of Arab and Western diplomats in recent days.

Several countries have urged al-Sharaa to ensure that religious and ethnic minorities will be protected amid some recent tensions and fears that any unrest could negatively affect Syria and the wider region.

“What happens next in Syria will not only have an impact on the Syrians themselves, but it could spread beyond the country,” said Al Jazeera’s Ahelbarra. “This is why people are concerned about what happens next.”

Al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, met with a Bahraini delegation in Damascus on Saturday, as well as with a senior official from Libya’s United Nations-recognised government.

“We expressed our full support for the Syrian authorities in the success of the important transitional phase,” Libyan Minister of State for Communication and Political Affairs Walid Ellafi told reporters after the meeting.

“We emphasised the importance of coordination and cooperation … particularly on security and military issues,” Ellafi said, while the pair also discussed cooperation “related to energy and trade” and “illegal immigration”.

Meanwhile, Lebanese officials and a war monitor said Lebanon expelled approximately 70 Syrian officers and soldiers on Saturday, returning them to Syria after they crossed into the country illegally via informal routes.

Many senior Syrian officials and people close to the al-Assad family fled the country to neighbouring Lebanon after al-Assad was toppled on December 8.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based monitor, said Syrian military personnel of various ranks had been sent back via Lebanon’s northern Arida crossing.

SOHR and a Lebanese security official told the Reuters news agency that the returnees were detained by the new Syrian authorities after crossing the border.