More than 1,300 people in Syria have been killed — many believed to be civilians — in the span of three days amid intense fighting between forces associated with Syria's new government and those loyal to the deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad, according to a human rights group.
The conflict is considered the country's worst violence since insurgents toppled the Assad regime back in December. It's also the biggest test for Syria's new government since it has assumed power.
On Sunday, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 830 civilians have been killed, along with 231 Syrian security forces and 250 Alawite militants. The figures could not be independently verified.
The Observatory characterized many of the killings as executions and massacres, carried out in revenge against the Alawite community, which made up Assad's traditional base of support. The human rights group also reported burning of homes and forced displacement, worsened by the absence of international intervention.
The fighting broke out on Thursday near the coast after reports that Alawite gunmen ambushed and killed 16 government forces in the coastal province of Latakia.
In response, the government sent reinforcements to and imposted curfews on Latakia and neighboring Tartus.
At first, the casualties mainly involved those fighting on both sides, according to the Observatory's reports. But as clashes went on, the civilian death toll skyrocketed, with many people shot at close range.
Part of the issue has been the involvement of other armed groups, who have sought to punish the Alawite sect for their previous support of the former regime.
Alawite leaders said their community around Latakia and Tartus have been the target of attacks for weeks, ever since the Assad regime was overthrown, NPR previously reported.
The human rights group said the Alawite gunmen loyal to the former regime do not represent the Alawite community, and many Alawite residents desperately want peace.
The new government is led by the rebel group responsible for ousting the Assad regime, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The group's leader and Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa has repeatedly pledged that the government will protect all minorities, a promise that has proved to be difficult, especially with the Alawites, in part because the government does not officially have a police force or army.
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