Fourteen interior ministry personnel died and ten were injured in an ambush by forces loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad in western Syria. The fighting occurred near the Mediterranean port of Tartous on Tuesday, according to Syria’s new rebel-led authorities.

Reports say security forces were ambushed while attempting to arrest a former officer connected to the notorious Saydnaya prison near Damascus.

Just over two weeks ago, Assad’s presidency fell to rebel forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) faction.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported three militants also died in the clashes. The SOHR added that security forces later brought in reinforcements.

Separately, Syrian authorities imposed an overnight curfew in Homs following unrest after a video allegedly showing an attack on an Alawite shrine. The interior ministry claimed the video was old, dating back to the rebel offensive on Aleppo in November, and the violence was carried out by unknown groups. One demonstrator was killed and five wounded in Homs, said SOHR.

Demonstrations were also reported in Tartous, Latakia, and Qardaha, Assad’s hometown. Alawites, the minority sect from which the Assad family originates, were a significant part of the former regime’s elite.

The HTS-led offensive, which started in Syria’s northeast and spread nationwide, ended the Assad family’s more than 50-year rule. Assad and his family fled to Russia.

HTS has since pledged to protect the rights and freedoms of religious and ethnic minorities in Syria. HTS is designated as a terrorist organization by the UN, the US, the EU, the UK, and others.

On Tuesday, protests erupted over the burning of a Christmas tree, prompting calls for the new authorities to protect minorities.