Syrian security forces accused of killing hundreds of civilians

Syria’s interim president Ahmed Sharaa has called for national unity after days of clashes, where it’s been reported Syrian security forces have 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 on Friday and Saturday.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify these claims.

“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 from a mosque in Damascus.

The developments are part of the “expected challenges” after the fall of the Assad regime, the president added in a video message.

Hundreds of people have reportedly fled their homes in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus – a heartland of deposed president Bashar al-Assad, who also belongs to the Alawite sect.

A total of more than 1,000 people have been killed in the past two days, the SOHR said, in the worst violence in Syria since rebels toppled the Assad regime in December.

This figure includes dozens of government troops and gunmen loyal to Assad, who have been locked in clashes in the coastal Latakia and Tartous provinces since Thursday.

Some 125 members of the Islamist-led government security forces and 148 pro-Assad fighters have been killed in the violence, the SOHR said.

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

A Syrian defence ministry spokesman told the country’s Sana news agency that the government had re-established control after “treacherous attacks” against its security personnel.

The violence has left the Alawite community in “a state of horror”, an activist in the city told the BBC on Friday, with hundreds of people reportedly fleeing affected areas.

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, dozens of families have fled to neighbouring Lebanon, according to local media.

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”.