DAMASCUS - Syria witnessed a wave of security disturbances on Tuesday, from sectarian unrest in the central province of Homs and coastal protests to anti-terror operations in the northern province of Aleppo, underscoring the country's fragile stability.

Tensions flared after last week's killing of a Sunni Bedouin couple in Homs, which authorities said was aimed at inciting sectarian strife. Retaliatory attacks in Alawite-majority neighborhoods prompted a 12-hour nightly curfew and heightened security.

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The incident sparked rare Alawite-led protests across the coastal region on Tuesday. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, tens of thousands of people demonstrated across at least 42 locations, denouncing sectarian provocation.

The Britain-based war monitor also reported isolated unrest, including an attempted statue damage in Tartous and a shooting in Latakia that left one man seriously wounded.

Interior authorities spokesperson Noureddin al-Baba, quoted by state-run al-Ikhbaria TV, said the right to protest is guaranteed, but warned against attempts to sow sectarian divisions.

"We advise our people not to be drawn into agendas promoted by groups outside the country," he said.

In a separate development, the interior authorities said Tuesday that security forces dismantled an Islamic State (IS) cell in northwestern Aleppo's Afrin area, arresting several IS-affiliated militants and seizing weapons and bomb-making materials.

Meanwhile, state media reported Tuesday that an armed attack on a security checkpoint west of Sweida province killed one officer and injured two others, with investigations underway.

The overlapping incidents highlight the complex security landscape Syria faces amid ongoing political transition.

A civil war erupted in Syria in 2011. In December 2024, Ahmed al-Sharaa, now Syria's interim leader, seized power from Bashar al-Assad, the former Syrian president.