At least three people were killed on Sunday as Syrian security forces dispersed protests by members of the Alawite minority in the coastal city of Latakia, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The protests broke out in several Syrian cities following a deadly attack on an Alawite mosque in Homs on Friday, which killed eight people. SOHR said the deaths in Latakia occurred when security forces intervened to break up demonstrations.

Syrian authorities said they had “contained the situation,” but stopped short of confirming that security forces had opened fire. Officials stated that forces attempted to separate two rival groups of demonstrators—Alawite protesters and Sunni Muslim supporters of Syria’s new Islamist authorities—reportedly firing shots into the air to disperse crowds.

According to the Associated Press, clashes erupted when pro-government demonstrators threw stones at Alawite protesters, while another group attacked a counterdemonstrator. The number of people injured in the clashes was not immediately clear.

Violence was also reported in the western inland city of Homs, where SOHR said several people were injured during confrontations linked to the protests.

The demonstrations were sparked by Friday’s bombing of the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood of Homs, a predominantly Alawite area. The attack was the latest in a series of violent incidents targeting the Alawite community since the fall of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, who belongs to the Alawite minority.

A Sunni extremist jihadist group, Saraya Ansar al-Sunna, claimed responsibility for the mosque bombing.

Syrian officials condemned the attack and vowed to hold those responsible accountable, though no arrests have been announced so far.

Sunday’s protests followed a call for demonstrations by Ghazal Ghazal, an Alawite cleric who lives outside Syria and heads the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the Diaspora.

Alawites follow a heterodox offshoot of Shiite Islam and are often viewed by Islamist groups as apostates, a perception that has contributed to sectarian tensions and violence in parts of the country.