Syrian security forces searched for suspects in the city of Latakia on Tuesday, residents said, after two defence ministry members were killed in an attack blamed by state media on remnants of Bashar al-Assad's ousted government.

The coastal region of Latakia area has emerged as one of the main security challenges for Syria's Islamist-led government as it works to consolidate control after seizing power in Damascus in December.

Assad drew support from among the region's Alawite minority, to which his family belongs.

The Syrian state news agency SANA, citing a security source, reported that two members of the defence ministry had been killed in the Datour area of Latakia by "groups of Assad militia remnants", and that security forces had mounted a campaign to arrest them.
Bursts of gunfire were heard through the night as government security forces deployed in the Datour district of Latakia.

A senior security official in the area told Reuters there had been an increase in hit-and-run attacks on security patrols and checkpoints in several towns in Latakia province over the last two weeks, blamed on former army personnel in hiding.