He hoped “the blood of my brother will save us from these criminal actions that kill people on the streets”, in an apparent reference to the growing pro-regime militias in war-strewn Syria that are heavily-armed and often act with impunity.
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“Suleiman Hilal al-Assad has been arrested and transferred to the appropriate authorities”, the agency said Monday, without further details.
Latakia and the surrounding region are fiercely loyal to the Assad regime, and many young men from the region serve as officers in the Syrian army.
On Saturday, dozens of government supporters gathered in Latakia calling for the arrest and execution of Suleiman.
Colonel Hassan al-Sheikh was shot dead earlier this week by Sleiman al-Assad, a cousin of President Assad, after a dispute at a checkpoint, the Observatory said.
U.S.-led coalition airstrikes are reported to have hit IS positions during the assault, which ended after 37 rival rebels were killed, 20 went missing, and the town fell into IS hands. It comes amid mounting speculation that the Syrian leader’s grip on power is slipping during a four-year civil war that has taken a heavy toll on the Syrian military, causing huge manpower losses that have helped rebel forces recently seize significant territory.
But both Obama’s tempered optimism and the resolution stop well short of sketching an end to a conflict that has destabilized the entire Middle East. They did however also chant slogans of support for the Assad regime.
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria group advanced Sunday against rival rebel forces, including Islamists, in a bid to capture a series of key villages in northern Syria, a monitor said.
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The agency said 10 of the dead were killed in the central Ath-Thawra neighbourhood, and that the rocket was launched from the rebel-controlled Jobar district.
