15 hours ago
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The death toll from two days of intense fighting in Syria has surpassed 1,000, making it one of the deadliest incidents in the country’s 14-year conflict, a war monitoring group said. The clashes involved Syrian security forces, armed loyalists of ousted President
Bashar Assad
, and retaliatory attacks.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, civilians bore the brunt of the violence, with hundreds killed in close-range shootings.
Electricity and water services have been cut in affected areas. Thousands have fled, fearing further bloodshed.
Fighting erupted last Thursday, marking a major challenge to the new government that took power after Assad’s removal three months ago. Government forces say they were responding to attacks from Assad’s remaining loyalists, but the violence quickly escalated.
Revenge killings
broke out on Friday, with Sunni gunmen targeting Alawites, the sect that largely supported Assad.
What threat does the surge in violence in Syria pose? | Inside Story
Eyewitnesses in Baniyas described horrific scenes to news agency Associated Press, with bodies lying in the streets and homes burned. Survivors reported that armed men were executing Alawites after checking their IDs. Many Alawite families have fled to nearby mountains, while some sought shelter at a Russian airbase in Hmeimim.
Government forces claim they have regained control of most of the affected areas and have restricted access to Syria’s coastal region. However, tensions remain high.
On Saturday, 31 bodies were buried in a mass grave in Tuwaym, including children.
The conflict started when government forces tried to arrest a suspect near Jableh but were ambushed by Assad loyalists. The situation quickly spiraled into large-scale violence, highlighting Syria’s ongoing instability even after Assad’s departure.
