ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Sunday condemned the Syrian government's crackdown on Alawite protests in the country, coming as reports of casualties from clashes have emerged, with security forces accusing former Baathist regime elements of triggering the violence.

Masses of Alawites rallied in several western and central Syrian cities to protest a recent bombing at a Mosque in an Alawite-majority neighborhood of Homs on Friday, resulting in the death of eight people. Saraya Ansar al-Sunna, a Sunni Islamist militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack hours later.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said protesters in Latakia were attacked by pro-government supporters wielding knives and machetes, adding that two Alawite protestors were killed in Latakia by security forces.

"The intervention of forces affiliated with the Syrian Interim Government to suppress these peaceful protests, and the use of excessive force against the demonstrators, including the use of weapons, has resulted in the martyrdom and injury of a number of innocent civilians," Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) said in a statement.

"We condemn this in the strongest terms and consider it a blatant violation of the Syrian people's right to peacefully express their opinions and legitimate demands."

The statement continued to assert that "what is happening today is not the first time Syrian areas have been subjected to attacks and violations targeting civilians by these forces," referencing recent skirmishes between government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Aleppo's Kurdish majority neighborhoods.

Syria’s interior ministry said that security forces assigned to secure protests in the coastal city of Latakia and the countryside of Tartous came under direct attack while carrying out their duties to protect demonstrators and maintain public order, adding in a later statement that one of its personnel was killed in the clashes.

The ministry said the attacks were carried out by groups linked to remnants of the former regime of Bashar al-Assaed, adding that some protest movements deviated from their peaceful nature and resulted in assaults on security personnel.

State media earlier that three people were killed and at least 60 others injured in Latakia due to attacks by remnants of the former Baathist regime targeting both security forces and civilians.

However, activists, rights monitors, and online footage described a different sequence of events.

Videos circulating on social media showed security forces firing live ammunition shortly after protests began, with footage indicating injuries among demonstrators and possible fatalities. The exact toll could not be independently verified.