Key Points
Over 1,000 killed in two days of intense Syrian conflict
Alawite minority suffers significant civilian casualties
Security forces claim control of contested coastal regions
Interim government sends reinforcements to northwest cities
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported deaths in more than 20 locations across the Latakia, Tartus, and Hama governorates, marking one of the deadliest episodes in Syria's 14-year conflict, as per DW.
It stated that, in addition to 745 civilians killed, mostly in close-range shootings, 125 government security force members and 148 militants affiliated with Assad were killed, as per DW.
The Observatory noted that most of the civilians killed were from the country's Alawite religious minority.
Syria's interim government on Saturday sent reinforcements to coastal cities in the country's northwest where security forces have been engaged in heavy battles with fighters loyal to former ruler Bashar al-Assad, as per Al Jazeera.
Security forces on Saturday said they had regained control of much of the areas in Tartous and Latakia governorates, where al-Assad loyalists carried out co-ordinated attacks at checkpoints, security convoys and military positions on Thursday, as per Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera, quoting Syria's state news agency SANA, stated that an unidentified security official as saying that after the attacks, numerous people went to the coastal areas seeking revenge for the assault on government security forces. The official said the actions "led to some individual violations and we are working on stop them".
A curfew remains in effect in Latakia and other coastal areas that are predominantly home to al-Assad's minority Alawite sect and make up his longtime base of support, per Al Jazeera. Amid the ongoing fighting, dozens of civilians and members of the former regime and their families have taken shelter at the Russian Khmeimim base in the Latakia countryside.
In his first public comments since the surge in violence, Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday called on the fighters to lay down their weapons and surrender "before it is too late", Al Jazeera reported.
