A demonstration in al-Karama Square in the center of As-Suwayda against the HTS government on March 6, 2025.
The Syrian regime has declared curfews in a number of the country’s regions after mass rallies are held in protest at the regime’s increasing violence against civilians.
The northwestern port city of Tartus and the entire Homs province were put under curfew on Thursday night.
A curfew has also been announced in Latakia until 10:00 a.m. local time on Friday.
The curfews followed mass protests by Alawites and Shia Muslims, who condemned the violent actions of the regime.
They accused Syria’s interim government of prioritizing power over rebuilding the nation.
The Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria released a statement, denouncing the regime’s increasing violence, including aerial bombardments of civilian homes and forced displacement of their residents.
The statement called on Syrians to stage peaceful sit-ins while refraining from damaging property or engaging in sectarian strife.
Heavy clashes have been reported in western Syria between remnants of the Syrian Arab Army and extremist groups backed by the West that have been integrated into the new government.
‘Military Council for the Liberation of Syria’ announced
A statement attributed to former Syrian regime officer Brigadier General Ghiath Suleiman Dalla has circulated on social media.
The statement announced the creation and launch of the “Military Council for the Liberation of Syria.”
This follows a coordinated attack on regime forces in the Latakia province, which resulted in the death of more than 10 security personnel.
According to the statement, the council’s goal is to “liberate all Syrian land from all occupying terrorist forces,” and “topple the current regime and dismantle its oppressive sectarian security apparatus.”
The statement called on Syrians from various sects, regions, and ethnicities to “join our ranks and stand with us in this historic moment.”
It urged the international community to “support the Syrian people’s will to liberate themselves from the oppression and tyranny disguised in vague terminology.”
Shortly after an offensive by foreign-backed militants, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), toppled the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Israeli forces entered the UN buffer zone between the occupied territories and Syria.
Israeli forces have remained there ever since, despite protests by Syria’s ruling HTS administration and the UN.
Israeli warplanes have also carried out hundreds of aerial assaults on Syria in the weeks after the fall of the Assad government.
However, Damascus has refrained from deploying what is left of the country's armed forces to fight against the Israelis' expansionist occupation of Syrian lands.
The commander of the HTS militant group, which overran Syria amid intense Israeli strikes against the Arab country last December and has been named as the country’s new “president,” stated his administration poses no military threat to the Israelis.
