Two killed in protests after mosque attack

TT

Updated 14.36 | Published 14.34

 

Protesters belonging to Syria's Alawite minority on Sunday in the coastal province of Latakia. Photo: Omar Albam/AP/TT

Syrian security forces are reported to have killed two people in connection with the dispersal of a protest, which brought together the country's Alawite minority.

The information comes from the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) and is confirmed by a source who confirms that two bodies have been taken to a local hospital.

Syrian authorities do not confirm that security forces opened fire on protesters, but say that they have "brought the situation under control". The authorities accuse "remnants" of the regime of ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad of attacking the security forces. al-Assad, who now lives in Russia, is Alawite, a sect with roots in Shia Islam.

On Sunday, thousands of Alawites in the coastal and central parts of the country protested against a deadly bombing of an Alawite mosque in the city of Homs on Friday.