Syrian security forces accused of killing hundreds of civilians

Syria’s leader Ahmed Sharaa has called for peace after days of clashes where Syrian security forces allegedly killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) – which monitors developments in Syria – said about 745 civilians were killed in around 30 “massacres” targeting Alawites in coastal regions on Friday and Saturday.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify the death toll of the violence, believed to be the worst since the fall of the Assad regime.

“We must preserve national unity and civil peace as much as possible and, God willing, we will be able to live together in this country,” Sharaa said.

Speaking from a mosque in Damascus on Sunday, the interim president said “what is currently happening in Syria is within the expected challenges”.

The number of fighters killed brings the total death toll to more than 1,000 people, says the Syrian Observatory. It said about 125 members of forces linked to the new Islamist-led government and 148 pro-Assad fighters had been killed in the fighting in the coastal region.

Reuters news agency reported sources in the new Syrian government saying at least 200 of the fighters had been killed, after coordinated attacks and ambushes on their forces on Thursday.

A Syrian defence ministry spokesman said there had been “treacherous attacks” against its security personnel, according to a report by the Sana state news agency.

Amid the fighting, hundreds of civilians have reportedly fled their homes in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus – which were heartlands of deposed president Bashar al-Assad, who also belongs to the Alawite minority.

Alawites, whose sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam, make up around 10% of Syria’s population, which is majority Sunni Muslim.

The violence has left the Alawite community in “a state of horror”, an activist in the city told the BBC on Friday.

Large crowds sought refuge at a Russian military base at Hmeimim 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.

Meanwhile, local media reported dozens of families had also fled to neighbouring Lebanon.

The UN’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said he was “deeply alarmed” by “very troubling reports of civilian casualties” in Syria’s coastal areas.

He called on all sides to refrain from actions which could “destabilise” the country and jeopardise a “credible and inclusive political transition”.

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