Fierce fighting in northwestern Syria between members of the de facto government’s security forces and fighters “loyal” to ousted President Bashar al-Assad left more than 70 dead, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday night into Friday.

“More than 70 people were killed and dozens of others wounded or captured in bloody fighting and ambushes on the Syrian coast between members of the defense and interior ministries and gunmen belonging to former President Assad’s army,” the Britain-based non-governmental organization, which relies on its extensive network of sources in Syria, said via X in Arabic.

The fighting in Jabla (Gavala in ancient Greek) and the adjacent villages in Latakia province, near the Mediterranean coast, was “the fiercest” attacks against the new regime “since the fall of Assad” on December 8, according to the same source.

Restoring security across Syria is described as the most urgent challenge for the new authorities in power since an alliance of jihadist and rebel organisations led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) toppled the Assad dynasty.

In recent days, fighting has been taking place in Lattaqueya province, a stronghold of the Alevi minority to which the deposed president’s family belongs.

Launching “a well-planned and premeditated attack, groups of armed Assad supporters attacked our positions and checkpoints, targeting a large number of our patrols in the Jabla area,” said Mustafa Kinifati, an officer with the security forces of the de facto authorities in Latakia.

He also said these raids caused “many martyrs and wounded” in the ranks of the new regime, without giving a number. Security forces are acting to “eliminate their presence,” he continued. “We will restore stability in the province and protect the properties of our people.”

During the operation, security forces arrested a former head of the air force’s intelligence service under President Hafez al-Assad – Bashar al-Assad’s father – Ibrahim Hawaja, SANA reported, citing a source in the new regime’s security forces.

“Our forces in Jabla city have managed to capture the criminal General Ibrahim Hauja,” the agency reported.

“He is accused of committing hundreds of murders during the time (of the presidency) of the criminal Hafez al-Assad,” it added.

Mr. Hawaja rarely appeared in public, and little is known about him. He served as head of the Syrian Air Force’s intelligence service from 1987 to 2002. He is suspected of being responsible for the assassination of Lebanese Druze leader Kamal Jublat in 1977.

“Allahu Akbar” (“great are you sir”) was the reaction in Arabic via X of Walid Jublat, son of Kamal Jublat and also a leader of the Druze community.

Several assassinations of politicians and officials in Lebanon who opposed Syria were attributed to the Assad family, who ruled Syria with an iron fist for 50 years.

According to the head of the security services in Lattaqueya, his forces clashed with an Assad-era special forces commander in another village after helicopter raids.

“The armed groups that our security forces clashed with in Lattaqueya province belong to war criminal Suhail al-Hassan,” he told SANA.

The so-called “Tiger” was the head of the special forces and was often described as the “soldier preferred” by former President Assad. He was credited with major advances by the ousted regime’s army in 2015.

The clashes took place in Beit Aana, the village where Suhail al-Hassan is from, when residents prevented the arrest of a suspected arms smuggling suspect, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Security forces launched an operation during which, according to the state news agency, “gunmen opened fire on members and vehicles of the defence ministry near the village”, killing one of them and wounding others.

According to Qatar’s Al Jazeera television network, a member of its crew was also wounded.

Leaders of the Alevi community called via Facebook for “peaceful protests” after the helicopter raids in which they complained “civilian homes” were hit.

Security forces in Latakia province imposed a curfew in areas where members of the Alevi minority mainly live – in addition to Latakia, the measure also affects Tartous and Homs, according to SANA.

Four civilians had already been killed earlier this week in Lattaqueya, during operations in which two members of the security forces also died.

Residents often complain of atrocities by government forces in that province, which they downplay, calling them “isolated incidents” by the new authorities.