Syria’s new authorities on Thursday launched a security crackdown in a coastal region where 14 policemen were killed a day before, vowing to pursue “remnants” of the ousted Bashar al-Assad regime accused of the attack, state media reported.The violence in Tartus province, part of the coastal region that is home to many members of al-Assad’s Alawite sect, has marked the deadliest challenge yet to the country’s new authorities which swept him from power on Dec. 8.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The new administration’s security forces launched the operation to “control security, stability, and civil peace, and to pursue the remnants of al-Assad’s militias in the woods and hills” in Tartus’ rural areas, state news agency SANA reported. Members of the Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shia Islam, wielded huge sway in Sunni-majority Syria under al-Assad, dominating security forces he used against his opponents during the 13-year