section_path: Violence and massacres/March/6 March
section_name: 6 March
paragraph_text: 6 March
  
  Violence significantly escalated on Thursday 6 March, when intense armed confrontations broke out in Latakia Governorate between Syrian security personnel and armed groups loyal to the former president. The fighting spread across several towns in the region predominantly inhabited by Alawites. Rob Geist Pinfold, a lecturer in international security at King's College London, told Al Jazeera English that this was part of an on-going co-ordinated insurgency by Assadist militias such as Syrian Popular Resistance (formed in December), designed to provoke sectarian conflict and "set Syria on a path to civil war". Local civil rights activists described the perpetrators as former regime loyalists and former elements of the army, security services and forces allied with the Assad regime, and that the violence was well planned and co-ordinated.
  
  The violence initially concentrated around the Jableh area but rapidly expanded to other locations. Armed remnants of the former Assad regime (reportedly including fighters loyal to former army General Suheil al-Hassan) launched a series of coordinated attacks against security forces in the cities of Jableh, Baniyas and the surrounding areas. Insurgents overran several positions. According to SNHR, upwards of 75% of the city of Baniyas was captured by remnants of the former Assad regime in this assault. SOHR said that 48 people were killed in clashes in Jableh. At least 10 members of the security forces were captured by pro-Assad gunmen in Qardaha, according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. Reuters verified video of fighting between pro-Assad forces and security forces in Homs.
  
  The insurgency provoked widespread rage: there were street protests against the insurgency in traditionally anti-Assad neighbourhoods across Syria, calling for a response. To quell the rebellion, Syrian interim government authorities sent in reinforcements to western Syria. including tanks and armoured vehicles. The Syrian Minister of Defense mobilized government military forces to "break the back of the remnants of the regime and make them an example to anyone who dares to tamper with the country's security." Latakia's Director of Public Security mobilized a full security response to the province. The official Military Operations Management Telegram channel initially urged for popular participation in heading to coastal Syria to "support our brothers", before stating that additional support was no longer needed.
  
  At the same time, the Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the Diaspora called on Alawites to "take to the streets and demonstrate in coastal cities and towns" and the Alawite Council in Latakia called on Russia to "immediately and urgently intervene to protect the Syrian people, especially the Alawite sect, from the threat of genocide by terrorist organizations."
  
  Thousands of fighters from Islamist groups, including pro- Turkish factions from the Free Syrian Army, arrived from Idlib, Aleppo, and Deir ez-Zor to coastal Syria with many local residents joining. Several mosques broadcast calls to jihad, according to Le Monde reporters. Multiple videos recorded by armed men showed large convoys of militants moving towards Tartus and Latakia. A narrator in one video (which CNN was unable to geolocate) stated: "It was the battle for liberation. Now it's a battle for purification," while a man in military gear stated, "To the Alawites, we're coming to slaughter you and your fathers" and "we will show you the of the Sunnis."
  
  According to SOHR, at least 35 pro-government fighters and 32 pro-Assad gunmen died in the violence, while four civilians were also killed.
  
  The government imposed a 24-hour curfew in the coastal cities in the evening and began a search for militants following the violence.