DAMASCUS, March 6 (Xinhua) -- At least 16 security personnel were killed in coordinated attacks by armed groups in Syria's coastal Latakia governorate Thursday, marking the deadliest assault on the new government's forces since the fall of the previous government, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

According to the Britain-based observatory, the casualties, mostly from the northwestern Idlib province, included members of the General Security Directorate and the Ministry of Defense, who were ambushed in the cities of Jableh and Latakia by militants allegedly backed by a regional power and remnants of the former government.

The Latakia region is home to the Alawite minority to whom the Assad family belongs.

Additional security personnel were missing or presumed dead, as heavy clashes continued in the area, the Observatory said, noting at least three militants have been killed so far.

Mustafa Kinivati, head of the General Security Directorate in Latakia, described the assault as a "well-planned and premeditated attack" by armed groups formerly loyal to the ousted administration.

"They launched simultaneous attacks on our checkpoints and patrols in Jableh and its outskirts, leading to multiple casualties among our forces," Kinivati said.

The militants also vandalized public buildings, government offices, and private properties, spreading destruction across the city and its surrounding areas, he added.

Security forces have been placed on high alert across Latakia, and authorities said they have "absorbed" the initial wave of attacks in rural Jableh, though fighting continues in the city itself.

In a sign of rising tensions, crowds of young men, some armed, gathered in Idlib's public squares in a show of support for the military's campaign against what state media describes as "foreign-backed militants." Enditem

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