Clashes between Syrian rebels and Assad supporters, killing two fighters – National

Clashes between the Islamists who seized power Syria And supporters of the ousted president Bashar al-Assad The government killed two Islamist fighters on Wednesday and wounded others, according to interim officials.

Details of how the fighting broke out and who instigated the confrontation were not immediately known. Interim officials in Syria said two fighters were killed Hayat Tahrir al-ShamOr Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, which led the stunning offensive that ousted Assad earlier this month.

The transition in Syria has been surprisingly smooth, but it has only been a few weeks since Assad fled the country and his administration and forces dissolved. The rebels who ousted Assad are rooted in a fundamentalist Islamic ideology, and although they have pledged to create a multiparty system, it is not clear how or whether they plan to share power.

Since the fall of Assad, dozens of Syrians have been killed in acts of revenge, according to activists and observers, the vast majority of whom are from the Alawite sect, a branch of the Shiite sect to which Assad belongs.

In the capital, Damascus, Alawite demonstrators clashed with Sunni counter-demonstrators, and gunshots were heard. The Associated Press was unable to confirm details of the shooting.

Alawite protests also took place along the Syrian coast in the city of Homs and the Hama countryside. Some called for the release of former Syrian army soldiers now imprisoned by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.

The Alawite protests appear to have been sparked in part by an online video showing the burning of an Alawite shrine. The interim authorities insisted that the video was old and not a recent incident.

Sectarian violence has erupted in waves since Assad’s ouster, but nowhere near the level that was feared after nearly 14 years of civil war that has killed an estimated half a million people. The war has torn Syria apart, creating millions of refugees and displacing tens of thousands across the country.

This week, some forcibly displaced Syrians began returning to their homes, trying to rebuild their lives. Many were shocked by the devastation, finding that little remained of their homes.

In the northwestern Idlib region, residents were repairing shops and closing damaged windows on Tuesday, in an attempt to restore a sense of normalcy.

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Idlib city and much of the surrounding province remained for years under the control of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani, who was allied with al-Qaeda, but it was the scene of relentless attacks. Attacks by government forces.

Hajja Zakia Daysid, who was forcibly displaced during the war, said that returning to her home in the Idlib countryside was bittersweet.

The 62-year-old said: “My husband and I spent 43 years of hard work saving money to build our house, only to find that it was all in vain.”

In the dusty neighborhoods, cars passed by with luggage strapped on top. People stood idly in the streets or sat in empty cafes.

In Damascus, the new Syrian authorities raided warehouses on Wednesday, confiscating drugs such as Captagon and hashish, used by Assad’s forces. The interim authorities said that a million Captagon pills and hundreds of kilograms of hashish caught fire.

Albam reported from Damascus, Syria, and Alsayed reported from Idlib, Syria.

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