Syrian security forces have reportedly killed hundreds of civilians belonging to the Alawite religious minority in continued violence along the country’s coast, according to a war monitoring group.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said some 745 civilians were killed in around 30 “massacres” targeting Alawites on Friday and Saturday, BBC News reported, which could not independently confirm the claims.
Hundreds of people have reportedly fled their homes in the region – the heartland of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, who also belongs to the Alawite sect.
More than 1,000 people have been killed in the past two days, according to the SOHR, in the worst violence in Syria since rebels toppled Assad’s regime in December.
The figure includes dozens of government soldiers and gunmen loyal to Assad, who have been fighting in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartous since Thursday.
Some 125 members of the security forces and 148 fighters loyal to Assad were killed in the violence, according to the SOHR.
Alawites make up about 10 percent of Syria’s predominantly Sunni Muslim population.
A spokesman for the Syrian Defense Ministry told the state-run Sana news agency that the government had re-established control after “treasonous attacks” on its security personnel.
The violence has left the Alawite community in a “state of terror,” an activist in the city told the BBC on Friday, and hundreds of people have reportedly fled the affected areas.
Large crowds have sought refuge at the Russian military base at Hmeimim in Latakia, according to a Reuters report.
Video footage shared by Reuters shows dozens of people outside the base chanting “people want Russian protection.”
Meanwhile, dozens of families have fled to neighboring Lebanon, according to local media.
The UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said he was “deeply disturbed” by “very worrying reports of civilian casualties” in Syria’s coastal areas.
He called on all parties to refrain from actions that could “destabilize” the country and jeopardize a “credible and inclusive political transition.”
