DAMASCUS, Dec 31, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Authorities in Syria's Latakia province arrested 21 people allegedly linked to ousted leader Bashar al-Assad's rule on Tuesday, state media reported, as a curfew blanketed the provincial capital after sectarian violence the previous night. State television said security forces in coastal Latakia province arrested 21 "former regime remnants who are involved in criminal acts, sectarian incitement and targeting internal security forces". The report came after an overnight curfew entered into effect until 6:00 am (0300 GMT) on Wednesday in Latakia, a mixed city in Syria's Alawite coastal heartland that also has several Sunni-majority neighbourhoods. Friday's bombing in a mosque in a predominantly Alawite area of the central Syrian city of Homs killed eight people. Hundreds of Alawites were killed in sectarian massacres in the community's coastal heartland in March.

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha December 31, 2025 15:55 UTC