Syrian security forces are accused of killing more than 1,000 civilians as violence erupted on Friday and Saturday, according to a war monitoring group.
BBC reports that The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said some 750 civilians had been killed in around 30 “massacres” along the country’s coastal Latakia and Tartous provinces targeting the Alawites religious minority on Friday and Saturday.
The war monitoring group said that in addition to the almost 750 civilians killed, mostly in close-range shootings, 125 members of the Islamist-led government security forces and close to 150 pro-Assad armed civilians were killed.
Hundreds of people have reportedly fled their homes in the region region, an area where Alawites lived after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad, who also belongs to the Alawite sect.
The deadly clashes escalated three months after insurgents of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militant group took authority after the dramatic removal of Assad from power.
The SOHR said that this is the worst violence in Syria since the rebels toppled the Assad regime in December.
Large crowds sought refuge at a Russian military base at Khmeimim in Latakia, according to the Reuters news agency. Video footage shared by Reuters showed dozens of people chanting “people want Russian protection” outside the base.
The Alawite community is in “a state of horror”, an activist in the city told the BBC on Friday. Alawites, whose sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam, make up around 10 percent of Syria’s population, which is majority Sunni Muslim.
Syrian president calls for peace
A Syrian defense ministry spokesman told the country’s Sana news agency that the security forces were responding to attacks from remnant of Assad’s forces and blamed “individual actions” for the rampant violence.
The revenge killings started on Friday by Sunni Muslim gunmen loyal to the government against members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect. Many Alawite homes were also reportedly looted and then set on fire in different areas.
The UN’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said he was “deeply alarmed” by “very troubling reports of civilian casualties” in Syria. He called on all sides to refrain from actions which could “destabilize” the country and jeopardize a “credible and inclusive political transition”.
In a joint statement the Christian Patriarchs of Syria said: “Syria has witnessed a dangerous escalation of violence, brutality and killings, resulting in attacks on innocent civilians, including women and children.”
On Sunday, Syrian leader Ahmed Sharaa called for peace. “We have to preserve national unity and domestic peace, we can live together,” Sharaa said in a circulated video.
“Rest assured about Syria, this country has the characteristics for survival. What is currently happening in Syria is within the expected challenges.”