DAMASCUS, Dec 31, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Authorities in Syria's Latakia province arrested 21 people allegedly linked to ousted leader Bashar al-Assad's rule on Tuesday, state media reported, as a curfew blanketed the provincial capital after sectarian violence the previous night.

Monday's attacks in predominantly Alawite neighbourhoods of Latakia city came after three people including a security force member were killed a day earlier, as thousands protested in the minority's coastal heartland over a deadly mosque bombing.

State television said security forces in coastal Latakia province arrested 21 "former regime remnants who are involved in criminal acts, sectarian incitement and targeting internal security forces".

The report came after an overnight curfew entered into effect until 6:00 am (0300 GMT) on Wednesday in Latakia, a mixed city in Syria's Alawite coastal heartland that also has several Sunni-majority neighbourhoods.

AFP correspondents saw residents cleaning up on Tuesday after the previous night's attacks in which cars were damaged and shops vandalised.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor reported that a young Alawite man was shot dead during the unrest "after being chased" by several men.

Syrian authorities on Monday said security forces reinforced their deployment in Latakia.

Interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said Tuesday that Syria rejected "any acts of sabotage or attacks that affect the dignity of citizens or their property... and the necessary legal measures will be taken against their perpetrators".

Since the ousting in December last year of Assad, himself an Alawite, the minority group has been the target of attacks.

Friday's bombing in a mosque in a predominantly Alawite area of the central Syrian city of Homs killed eight people.

The Saraya Ansar al-Sunna Islamist militant group, which analysts say serves as a front for Islamic State (IS) jihadists, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Hundreds of Alawites were killed in sectarian massacres in the community's coastal heartland in March.

Despite assurances from Damascus that all of Syria's communities will be protected, the country's minorities remain wary of their future under the new authorities.