NNA - Syrian security forces are conducting an operation in Homs city, state media reported on Thursday, with a monitor saying it targeted two districts that are home to the Alawite minority of toppled president Bashar al-Assad.

“The Ministry of Interior, in cooperation with the Military Operations Department, begins a wide-scale combing operation in the neighborhoods of Homs city,” state news agency SANA said quoting a security official.

The agency said the targets were “war criminals and those involved in crimes who refused to hand over their weapons and go to the settlement centers” but also “hidden ammunition and weapons.”

SANA later quoted a military official saying that the authorities were notified weeks ago that “remnants of al-Assad’s militias” were still in parts of Homs.

Since opposition forces overthrew al-Assad last month, the transitional government has been registering former conscripts and soldiers and asking them to relinquish their arms.

Authorities have sent troops and “armored forces” to search for “those who refuse to settle their affairs and hand over weapons” in Homs, SANA said.

They have also imposed a curfew in parts of the city.—agencies 

==========R.H.