Syria: Over 1,000 dead in intense fighting
In the past two days, more than 1,000 people have been killed in Syria amid fighting between the country's new authorities and supporters of former President Bashar al-Assad, according to information released by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) on Saturday, March 8th.
The same source reported that Syrian security forces and their allies have killed 745 civilians, including women and children, since March 6th, as reported by DW.
Human rights organizations condemn mass executions.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported mass executions in 29 locations across the Hama and Homs provinces and accused the new Syrian government forces of committing war crimes.
Syria's coastal regions are known as a stronghold of the Assad clan, predominantly inhabited by the Alawite minority, to which the former Syrian leader belongs.
In addition to civilians, 273 combatants from both sides were among those killed. For instance, Latakia experienced power and water outages, and markets were closed, according to news agencies.
Following the regime's collapse, intense fighting erupted between the new authorities and members of the Alawite minority, loyal to the former president.
On March 6th, violent clashes took place in Latakia between Assad's supporters and the security forces of the new government. According to AFP, citing security sources, a series of coordinated attacks targeted the new authorities' checkpoints, carried out by armed groups made up of former members of militias loyal to Assad.
In response, the new Syrian authorities launched a large-scale military operation, codenamed "Restoring Security," to eliminate Assad's militias and their supporters from the mountainous and coastal regions of the Latakia and Tartus provinces.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
