Syria: Bashar al-Assad relative wounded in family hometown The provocation sparked a gunfight that reportedly continued throughout the night. Alawite activist Samar Yazbik, a member of the Othman family, said on Monday that five of her relatives had been killed. YouTube footage said to have been shot during the battle showed armed men, their faces covered in balaclavas, running down streets and hiding behind bushes amid a constant tat-tat of gunfire. Those trying to get information from their relatives in the town reported that phone lines were down and roads to the mountain town were shut off. Al-Qardaha, the place that President Assad might once have seen as a sanctuary should he be forced to retreat from Damascus, has long been a badlands run by the mafia gangs. The original business of the 'Shabiha', before they were brought in to crack down against anti-government protests was the smuggling of everything from drugs and weapons to cigarettes and cars from Lebanon to Syria. With immunity from the law afforded to members of Syria's ruling family, Mohammad is known as "Sheikh of the Mountain." As members of Qardaha's most powerful mafia his followers are untouchables, driving Mercedes cars with unmarked license plates and tinted windows. "The Assad family is relatively small in al-Qardaha, but they were in control because they rule the country and control the town's shabiha," said analyst Ayman Haddad. The town was often ravaged by fights between rival groups over the control of smuggling routes, but the battle at the weekend was the first sign of open rivalry over the leadership of the Syrian President, residents told the Daily Telegraph. This is the first time there is fighting over a political issue. This could have serious repercussions," said a student calling himself Ahmed whose cousin lives in the town. As a minority sect in Syria Alawites have long expressed fears that they will suffer a brutal backlash by the mainly Sunni opposition should Bashar al-Assad's regime fall. Over the past year and half many Alawite communities supporting the regime have seen the uprising, and now the civil war, as a desperate battle for their continued survival. But as families see their young soldiers coming home in body bags "everyday" that support is cracking. "The walls are covered in posters showing the faces of the young men that have been killed," one resident said. Most opposition to the regime from the Alawite community has come from individuals choosing to join the opposition. Activists in the Alawite heartland of Latakia province admitted to the Daily Telegraph. The battles and reportedly widespread resentment seething in Assad's home town is the first sign of an Alawite community starting to turn against the Syrian President, said Haddad.