“Tartous is on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, the homeland of the country’s minority Alawite population from which the regime and its fiercest fighters is drawn. Further from the Turkish border than the neighboring province of Lattakia, from which the Assad family hails, Tartous has remained almost surreally isolated from the turmoil and destruction engulfing the country — apart from the funerals. As this besieged outpost of regime supporters confronts the rising death toll, the battle lines deepen between them and what they say are the forces of foreign-backed extremism.”
Source: Alawite heartland on Syria’s coast remains loyal to Assad regime – The Washington Post
