DAMASCUS: A deadly shooting on Monday at a Damascus club, days after another attack on the capital`s nightlife, has sparkedfears, addingto concerns that personal freedoms may be restricted under Syria`s new authorities.

Since the fall of longtime ruler Bashar alAssad in December, the international community has been pressing the new authorities to respect personal freedoms, protect minorities and include all components of society in its transition.

The perpetrators of Monday`s shooting at the Karawan nightclub or the motives were unknown. Authorities have announced arrests after an incident at a nearby venue last week, without identifying the suspects.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said gunmen attacked Karawan `with automatic weapons andopened fire, killing a woman and wounding others`.

Damascus Governor Maher Marwan confirmed `the death of a young woman`, condemning the incident and vowing to `hold those who disrupt the city`s security to account`.

Karawan is located in a commercial area in the heart of Damascus, where many licensed nightclubs and bars have been operating for decades. Aram, 33, who works for a non-government organisation in Damascus, said partying was normally `my way to unwind and escape life`s pressures`. But `from now on, I`ll be careful... It`s not worth the risk,` he said.

A witness said he `heard gunfire at dawn` from the club, which is located on the ground floor of a building also home to offices. He said that he `did not dare to enter the club until some time after the fir-ing stopped`. Inside, `I saw a woman`s body, blood stains on the ground, and chaos after the shooting,` he said.

A resident of the street said security forces had been monitoring the venue from a vehicle for days.

Syria`s new authorities have sought to reassure the population and the international community that the authority`s origins of the forces who toppled Assad are confined to the past, and to present a governance model of openness and flexibility.

But sectarian massacres on the Mediterranean coast in March saw security forces and allied groups kill more than 1,700 civilians, mostly Alawi community, according to the Observatory, while deadly sectarian clashes last week involving the Druze minority killed around 120.

The bloodshed has raised questions over whether the authorities, who must contendwith pressures from radical extremists within their ranks, can effectively maintain security and control affiliated fighters.

The nightclub incidents have raised fears of further attacks on Damascus`s nightlife scene. Hours before Monday`s shooting, a video circulated on social media showing security camera footage from last week`s attack on a nightclub in the same area.

The footage shows gunmen entering the venue before beating fleeing men and women with their weapons. Authorities said on Sunday that those involved in the first incident had been arrested.

In Damascus`s Old City, dozens of cafes and bars, many serving alcohol, have been operating largely as usual since Assad`s ousting. One bar patron said bars emptied out or closed when clashes or security incidents occurred.-AFP