A shadowy armed group linked to regime remnants launches a deadly attack on security positions in Latakia, while ISIL kills soldiers in the east. Clashes between Syrian internal security forces and a militia linked to the ousted government of Bashar al-Assad have left at least four people dead in the Alawite-majority coastal province of Latakia, marking a significant escalation in the new government’s fight to stabilise a nation emerging from years of ruinous civil war. The fighting erupted on Tuesday west of the village of Hamam al-Qarahleh in the countryside of Jableh. Security forces were responding to reports that members of “Saraya al-Jawad” (al-Jawad Brigades), a shadowy armed group linked to regime remnants, had launched an attack on security positions. According to the official ...