SYRIA-CONFLICT

(AFP) Security forces loyal to the interim Syrian government stand in the back of a vehicle parked along a road in Syria's western city of Latakia on March 9, 2025. Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa called for national unity and peace on March 9, amid growing international backlash following the killing of civilians along the country's coast in the worst violence since the overthrow of former president Bashar al-Assad, in the heartland of the Alawite minority to which the latter belongs.

(Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)