Syrian forces search former Assad stronghold after suspected loyalist attacks

By Kinda Makieh and Suleiman Al-Khalidi

DAMASCUS/AMMAN (Reuters) -Syrian security forces searched for suspects in the city of Latakia on Tuesday, residents said, after two defence ministry members were killed in an attack blamed by state media on remnants of Bashar al-Assad's ousted government.

The coastal region of Latakia area has emerged as one of the main security challenges for Syria's Islamist-led government as it works to consolidate control after seizing power in Damascus in December.

Assad drew support from among the region's Alawite minority, to which his family belongs.

The Syrian state news agency SANA, citing a security source, reported that two members of the defence ministry had been killed in the Datour area of Latakia by "groups of Assad militia remnants", and that security forces had mounted a campaign to arrest them.

Bursts of gunfire were heard through the night as government security forces deployed in the Datour district of Latakia.

A senior security official in the area told Reuters there had been an increase in hit-and-run attacks on security patrols and checkpoints in several towns in Latakia province over the last two weeks, blamed on former army personnel in hiding.

One Datour resident told Reuters there had been heavy gunfire in the early hours and that security forces in numerous of vehicles had surrounded the neighbourhood, before the situation calmed down in the morning.

"They have plenty of challenges, this is one of the big ones, not necessarily because there's an insurgency - it seems marginal - but because it will drain resources if they have to keep running around these villages tamping down unrest," said Aron Lund of the Century International think tank.

The senior security source blamed attacks in the Latakia region on a proliferation of arms in the hands of former security and army personnel who had refused to enter into reconciliation agreements with the new authorities.

The source said that Alawite elders have in some cases cooperated with security forces to hand over former personnel suspected of committing crimes during the Assad era, keen to stave off crack downs and potential civil unrest.

Last week, a police station was attacked during confrontations in Assad's ancestral town of Qardaha, located in the mountains some 25 km (16 miles) to the east of Latakia.

Qardaha residents and activists said that the incident began when members of security forces tried to enter a house without permission, sparking opposition from residents. One person was killed by gunfire, with locals accusing the security forces of the shooting, two residents and Alawite activists said.

A statement issued at the time by the Latakia security chief made no mention of the shooting. It accused groups whom it said opposed the imposition of security of trying to prevent security forces from setting up a check point and attacking the police station.

Community sheikhs and notables from Qardaha issued a videoed statement after the incident accusing "strangers" of trying to "exploit gaps between the people of Qardaha and the authorities with the aim of disrupting" security.

They declared support for any step taken by the authorities with their agreement to preserve security and lives.

(Additional reporting by Timour Azhari, Khalil Ashawi, Firas Makdesi and Tom Perry; Writing by Tom Perry, Editing by Angus MacSwan)