Syria: 14 public security force personnel killed in clashes with gunmen in southern rural Tartus

Damascus: According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Syrian war monitor, 14 members of the Public Security Forces and three terrorists were killed in violent confrontations that broke out in the Syrian town of Khirbet al-Ma’za in the southern countryside of Tartous.

The fight started when a General Security Forces patrol squad from the Military Operations Department tried to capture former regime official Muhammad Kanjo Hassan. Hassan’s supporters and local gunmen’s resistance turned into a fatal ambush and further fighting.

14 members of the Public Security Forces were murdered in confrontations with gunmen in the southern Tartous town of Khirbet al-Ma’za, according to a statement released Thursday by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Along with casualties on both sides, three militants were also killed.

“The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights received information that a patrol from the General Security Forces connected to the Military Operations Department was en route to apprehend Muhammad Kanjo Hassan, a former regime forces officer who served as the Head of the Field Court and Director of the Military Justice Department, from his home in Khirbet al-Ma’za in the Tartous countryside. The sought man’s brother and armed youths among the officer’s followers stopped the patrol during their search for him, drove them out of the hamlet, set up an ambush for them close to the settlement, and attacked one of the police vehicles,” the statement said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that violent altercations occurred between the components of the Military Operations Department and the military reinforcements dispatched to apprehend the militants in the hamlet.

According to the Syrian Observatory, gunmen from Tartous’ Khirbet al-Ma’za hamlet engaged in severe battles with the General Security Forces, who are part of the Military Operations Department. In the midst of severe fights between the two groups and fatalities on both sides, the gunmen attacked a General Security Forces vehicle, causing it to be set on fire.

On December 8, Syrian opposition forces captured Damascus, forcing Assad to flee and bringing an end to his dictatorship after more than 13 years of civil conflict. A three-month caretaker administration has been created by al-Sharaa loyalist forces. Following a high-level visit that signaled a change in diplomatic ties and the reopening of its embassy in Damascus, Qatar demanded the immediate easing of sanctions on Syria the same day.