Syria's Mediterranean coast is recovering from days of violence between insurgents loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad and supporters of the interim government.
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00:00Qalm returns to the Syrian city of Latakia after violence that left hundreds of people
00:09dead.
00:10Shops have reopened and street vendors are back to work, though armed guards remain on
00:14the streets checking the IDs of passing motorists.
00:17The question now is whether this peace will hold.
00:21Located on Syria's Mediterranean coast, Latakia is one of the few remaining pockets of support
00:26for former President Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December 2024.
00:31Not only does the Assad family trace its roots to this part of the country, but the coastal
00:35strip is also the home of the Assad family's religion, followers of a minority form of
00:39Islam called Alawites.
00:46When some of these Assad backers attacked government forces Thursday, it set off a wave
00:51of revenge killings in coastal regions like Latakia by supporters of Syria's new government.
00:56Though Alawites may have been the target, the bullets were indiscriminate.
01:00Twenty-year-old medical student Shinda Kisho came from a completely different minority,
01:05the Syrian Kurds.
01:07She was killed by gunfire while sleeping in bed as fighting broke out around her home.
01:11Now her family are left to process their shock and grief.
01:32Syria's acting president says the attackers will be hunted down, and those who've committed
01:36violence on both sides will face consequences.
01:40He's also calling for unity.
01:56But the risk of more deaths isn't over, with security forces still on alert.
02:00Government forces think around 5,000 pro-Assad insurgents are hiding out in mountains nearby.
02:06It's a big blow to hopes for peace in a country that's already been traumatized from 13 years
02:10of civil war.
02:12In Latakia, relief at the end of the fighting is mixed with sorrow and unease.
02:36Even as life returns to normal, exiled President Bashar al-Assad's influence still lingers
02:47in this part of Syria.
02:48How the central government handles this reality will be crucial to the country's future stability.
02:54Kama Shu and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.