Syria's security forces launched an operation on Thursday against pro-Assad fighters in the western province of Tartus, state media said, a day after deadly clashes with gunmen affiliated with the former government.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said three people were killed in the operation in coastal Tartus city, adding they were "armed men loyal to the former regime" of toppled president Bashar al-Assad.

Official news agency SANA said the operation had succeeded in "neutralising a certain number" of fighters, adding the objective was to "restore security, stability and the civil peace" in the region.

The situation in Tartus province, a stronghold of Assad's Alawite religious community, has been fraught in recent days.

On Wednesday 14 members of the security forces and three gunmen were killed in the town of Khirbet al-Maaza, according to the Observatory, as the new authorities sought to arrest an officer of the former government linked to a notorious prison.

The clashes in Tartus erupted after "a number of residents refused to allow their houses to be searched", said the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria.

The wanted officer's brother and other armed men had "set up an ambush for" the security forces, the Observatory said.

It added that "dozens of people" were arrested in Khirbet al-Maaza.

Unrelated protests broke out in other western cities and towns on Wednesday over a video showing an attack on an Alawite shrine, with the Observatory saying one demonstrator was killed by security forces fire in Homs city.