Syrian leaders calls on Alawite insurgents to surrender ‘before it’s too late’

By AFP 7 March 2025, 11:40 pm

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This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency on February 16, 2025, shows Syria's interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa attending a meeting with officials and local leaders in the western coastal city of Latakia. (Syrian Presidency/AFP)

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa urges insurgents from toppled president Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite minority to lay down their arms “before it’s too late,” after clashes in the west of the country killed more than 220 people.

In a speech broadcast on Telegram, the interim president also vows to “continue to work towards monopolizing weapons in the hands of the state, and there will be no more unregulated weapons.”