Unrest is brewing in Syria's coastal plains, home to the fallen Assad family's

Allewite sect. Earlier this week, a group of regime loyalists staged an ambush on the

now governing rebel forces, killing 14. With the Islamic Shia-Alawite sect making up

only 10% of the population, local officials are trying to keep tensions

from boiling over.

Simone Fultein reports from the coastal town of Latakia.

A show of force in the city of Latakia

in the heartland of Bashar al-Alawite sect.

These Sunni fighters are from Hayat Tahrir Asham, or HTS. The rebels turned rulers of Syria.

They are part of general security, a heavily armed police force whose job it is to secure areas

retaken from Assad's forces. The former government was quickly toppled, but scores of loyalists remain on the run.

These patrols deploy every night in an effort to consolidate control over the city of Latakia,

which used to be Assad's bastion of support, and the situation here remains quite tense.

Assad's enablers are often arrested on these missions.

Abu Ayu bleeds these sensitive operations and didn't want to reveal his face, nor his real name.

We arrest them immediately so that there's no sabotage and panic.

We're working with the people to arrest them and bring them to account.

We're following up on any tips and act on anything that threatens our security, people and land.

God willing, we will deal with it.

Abu Ayub's men are treading a fine line.

On the one hand, they must heed people's calls for justice and arrest those with blood on their hands. At the same time,

they must shield the al-O-white minority from arbitrary retaliation. Already, videos of revenge

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