New Delhi, Dec. 29 -- Chaos broke out in western Syria on Sunday as protesters from the Alawite minority community and counterdemonstrators clashed, leaving at least four dead and injuring dozens of others.

Sunday's protests came a couple of days after a bombing at an Alawite mosque in the Syrian city of Homs killed eight people and injured 18 others, with thousands of Alawites gathering in the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous.

Although authorities have not yet publicly identified a suspect in the mosque bombing, a little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack on their Telegram channel-the group indicated that the bombing intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of ...