Clashes raged in Syria on Thursday between the remnants of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the currently-ruling Hayat Tahrir-Sham (HTS) extremist group several hours after over a dozen HTS militants were killed in the western Tartous governorate.   Violent armed clashes were recorded by citizens in Tartous on Thursday. Video footage also showed positions of the SAA’s 25th Division stationed in the Latakia mountains in western Syria.  ???????? Intense clashes rage into their second day in Tartus, Syria, between Syrian Arab Army resistance cells and forces loyal to the new government. Footage captured by a local woman from her home offers a close-up view of the chaos, showing militants exchanging fire directly below… pic.twitter.com/jtsokMHdqO — DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) December 26, 2024 HTS-led authorities announced on Thursday that they confiscated weapons belonging to former government soldiers in the Damascus countryside. HTS’s Military Operations Administration has launched a security operation to confiscate SAA weapons and arrest “those who incite” sedition, according to a source from Syria’s new Ministry of Interior cited by Al-Watan newspaper.  Fourteen HTS militants and three armed men were killed in combat Wednesday evening in Tartous, in what was initially reported as an ambush by former government loyalists and soldiers.  Syria’s Interior Minister Mohammad Abdul Rahman confirmed on […]