Syria’s new interior minister said on Wednesday that 14 members of his ministry had been killed by ‘remnants’ of ousted President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in rural Tartus, after the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported clashes in the area.

In a statement, Interior Minister Mohammed Abdul Rahman said that ’14 members of the Interior Ministry were martyred and 10 others wounded in a treacherous ambush by the remnants of the criminal regime in the countryside of Tartus province’, noting that they were ‘carrying out their duties to maintain the security and safety of the people’, according to AFP.