Protests in Syria after old video showing attack on Alawite shrine | News from the war in Syria

Thousands of people demonstrated in several cities across Syria after a video surfaced showing an attack on an Alawite shrine in the north, according to a war monitor and witnesses.

Syria's new leaders said the video was old and unknown groups were behind the attack, saying the video's re-release served to fuel conflict, a day after hundreds protested in Damascus against the burning of a Christmas tree.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) said thousands of people took to the streets on Wednesday in major protests in the coastal towns of Tartus and Latakia, provinces that are the heartland of the Alawite minority, where long-time leader Bashar al- was deposed. Assad belongs.

SOHR also reported protests in the central cities of Homs and Qardaha, Al-Assad's hometown.

Witnesses said protests broke out in Tartus, Latakia and nearby Jableh, where images showed large crowds in the streets with some people chanting slogans such as “Alawite, Sunni, we want peace.”

The official SANA news agency said police in central Homs imposed a curfew from 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) to 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Thursday, while authorities in Jableh and two other towns also announced a nighttime curfew.

The SOHR said the protests erupted after a video began circulating Wednesday showing an attack by fighters on a major Alawite shrine in the Maysaloon district of Aleppo, Syria's second-largest city. Five workers were killed and the shrine was set on fire.

SOHR leader Rami Abdel Rahman said the video was filmed earlier this month after opposition rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a blitzkrieg offensive; took control of major cities, including Aleppo on December 1; and ousted al-Assad a week later.

Yes to a free Syria

However, the Interior Ministry said on its official Telegram account that the video dates back to the rebel offensive on Aleppo in late November and that the violence was carried out by unknown groups, adding that whoever was circulating the video now appeared seek to incite sectarian conflicts.

The ministry also said that some members of the former regime attacked Interior Ministry forces in Syrian coastal areas on Wednesday, leaving several people dead and injured.

Protester Ali Daoud said thousands of people attended the demonstration in Jableh, adding: We call for those who attacked the shrine to be held accountable.

Images showed large crowds marching through the streets waving the three-star independence-era rebel flag.

No to the burning of holy places and religious discrimination. No to sectarianism. Yes to a free Syria, we could read on a protest sign.

In the city of Latakia, protesters denounced violations against the Alawite community, said Ghidak Mayya, 30.

For now, we are listening to calls for calm, he said, warning that too much pressure on the community risks leading to an explosion.

Alaa, 33, a resident and protester from Tartus, expressed concern about a possible deterioration of the situation, saying that a single drop of blood risks returning us to a very bad scenario.

Al-Assad has long presented himself as a protector of minority groups in Syria, which has a Sunni Muslim majority.

Alawites fear backlash against their community, both as a minority religious group and because of its long association with the al-Assad family.

Hundreds of demonstrators protested in Christian neighborhoods of Damascus on Tuesday against the burning of a Christmas tree near Hama in central Syria. The HTS promised to restore it quickly.

The country's new leaders have repeatedly promised to protect minority religious groups, who fear that the former rebels now in power will seek to impose a conservative form of government.