This push comes at a time when the new de facto leader of Syria, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, is meeting with Bahraini and Libyan delegations in Damascus.
The new Syrian administration is implementing a security campaign against what it described as “remnants” of former President Bashar al-Assad’s rule, and operations are being conducted in several parts of the country.
The official Syrian news agency, SANA, reported on Saturday that authorities were conducting a “large-scale combing operation” near the city of Latakia on the northwestern coast of Syria.
SANA said in a post shared on social media that the push — in an area where Assad enjoys support from the Alawite sect — came in response to “reports of the presence of elements linked to the remnants of Assad’s militias.”
In a report from the capital, Damascus, Hashem Ahlbara of Al Jazeera explained that the new administration said it did not target the Alawite community, from which Assad hails.
Instead, authorities said the security operation focused on soldiers and Syrian army officials linked to Assad and his brother Maher al-Assad, a powerful former military commander.
“They say they have issued an ultimatum to these people to hand over weapons to the new administration,” Ahlbara said, adding that operations are also taking place in Homs, Aleppo and on the outskirts of Damascus.
The push comes days after 14 police officers were killed in what authorities said was an “ambush” by pro-Assad forces in Tartous Governorate, another area on Syria’s western coast.
On Thursday, Interior Minister Mohamed Abdel Rahman promised to take strict measures against “anyone who dares to undermine the security of Syria or endanger the lives of its citizens.”
Syrian opposition groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham took control of the country earlier this month after a swift offensive that ousted Assad after more than two decades in power.
A political transition is underway, with Syria’s new de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa – who headed Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and previously had ties to al-Qaeda – holding talks with a number of Arab and Western diplomats in recent days.
Several countries have urged Shara to ensure the protection of religious and ethnic minorities amid some recent tensions and fears that any unrest could negatively impact Syria and the region as a whole.
“What happens next in Syria will not only have an impact on the Syrians themselves, but may extend beyond the country,” Al Jazeera’s Ahlbara said. “That’s why people are worried about what will happen next.”
Al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani, met with a Bahraini delegation in Damascus on Saturday, as well as a senior official from the UN-recognised Libyan government.
Libyan Minister of State for Communications and Political Affairs Walid Al-Lafi told reporters after the meeting: “We expressed our full support for the Syrian authorities in the success of the important transitional phase.”
“We emphasized the importance of coordination and cooperation… especially on security and military issues,” Al-Lafi said, while the two leaders also discussed cooperation “related to energy, trade” and “illegal immigration.”
Meanwhile, Lebanese officials and a war monitor said that Lebanon expelled about 70 Syrian officers and soldiers on Saturday, and returned them to Syria after they crossed into the country illegally through unofficial routes.
Several senior Syrian officials and people close to the Assad family fled the country to neighboring Lebanon after Assad was ousted on December 8.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in London, said that Syrian soldiers of various ranks were returned through the Arida crossing in northern Lebanon.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a Lebanese security official told Reuters news agency that the returnees were detained by the new Syrian authorities after crossing the border.
