TOYOTA ARMIES
Orhan Qereman
Sun, March 9, 2025
Commander of Syrian Kurdish-led forces Mazloum Abdi, attends an interview with Reuters in Hasakah
By Orhan Qereman
QAMISHLI, Syria (Reuters) - The commander of a Kurdish-led force in Syria said on Sunday the country's interim president must hold the perpetrators of communal violence in Syria's coastal areas to account, accusing Turkey-backed factions of being primarily behind the killings.
The head of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, said in written comments to Reuters that Ahmed al-Sharaa must intervene to halt "massacres", adding factions "supported by Turkey and Islamic extremists" were chiefly responsible.
Syrian security sources have said at least 200 of their members were killed in clashes with former army personnel owing allegiance to toppled leader Bashar al-Assad after coordinated attacks and ambushes on their forces on Thursday.
The attacks spiralled into a cycle of revenge killings when thousands of armed supporters of Syria's new leaders from across the country descended to the coastal areas to support beleaguered forces of the new administration.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor, said on Saturday more than 1,000 people had been killed in the fighting.
Turkey's defence ministry declined to comment on Abdi's remarks and the country's foreign ministry was not immediately available to respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Kurdish forces and Turkish-backed groups clashed repeatedly throughout the nearly 14-year civil war and are still fighting in some parts of northern Syria.
Abdi called on Sharaa to "reconsider the method of forming the new Syrian army and the behaviour of the armed factions", saying some of them were exploiting their role in the army "to create sectarian conflicts and settle internal scores".
Sharaa, who headed the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) faction that spearheaded the rebel offensive to oust Assad, was named interim president in January. Syria's previous army was dissolved and rebel factions agreed to merge into a new national armed force.
Abdi said that he was in talks with Sharaa on incorporating his fighting force into the army.
(Reporting by Orhan Qereman in Qamishli, Writing by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Clelia Oziel)
Syrian leader calls for peace as deadly violence continues
Reuters
Updated Sun, March 9, 2025
STORY: :: WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Crowds of Syrians protested in the capital Damascus on Sunday, demanding an end to an outbreak of deadly violence that has killed many civilians.
:: March 7, 2025
It came as clashes continued for a fourth day in the coastal heartland of deposed president Bashar al-Assad, between Assad loyalists and forces backing the country's new leaders.
:: March 9, 2025
Syria's interim president Ahmed Sharaa scrambled to contain the violence on Sunday, as he called for peace outside a mosque in Damascus.
He urged Syrians not to let sectarian tensions further destabilize the country, which has seen relative calm after Assad was toppled in December.
Meanwhile, people were mourning on Sunday at a funeral for a student who was killed in the coastal Latakia province, one of the main areas of fighting.
War monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 1,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed.
It said women and children of Assad's Alawite religious minority were among the dead.
And that death toll was one of the highest since a chemical weapons attack on a Damascus suburb by Assad's forces in 2013.
Authorities said the violence began after Assad loyalists launched deadly and well-planned attacks on their forces on Thursday.
It sent security forces to crack down on the growing insurgency.
Thousands of armed supporters of the new leaders showed up from across the country to back the Syrian troops, before the battles spiraled into revenge killings.
Syrian authorities have blamed unruly militias for summary executions and deadly raids in Alawite villages and towns.
In graphic footage obtained from social media over the past days, bodies were seen strewn on the ground in Latakia.
Reuters was able to verify the locations of the videos, but not the date or the identity of the dead.
Sharaa on Friday told Syria that Assad loyalists and those who had committed crimes would be pursued and brought to trial.
Adding that those who harm unarmed civilians would be held "severely accountable."
On Sunday, Sharaa's office said it was forming an independent committee to investigate the clashes and killings by both sides.
Syria president calls for unity after reports of mass killings
AFP
Sun, March 9, 2025
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa called for national unity and peace on Sunday, after more than 1,000 people were reportedly killed in coastal Syria in the worst clashes since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.
The violence erupted on Thursday between the new security forces and loyalists of the former government along the Mediterranean coast in the heartland of the Alawite minority to which Assad belonged.
It has since escalated into the largest challenge to the new government's forces since Sharaa's Islamist-led coalition toppled Assad in December.
"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 Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor has reported that 745 Alawite civilians were killed in Latakia and Tartus provinces.
The Britain-based Observatory said they were killed in "executions" carried out by security personnel or pro-government fighters, accompanied by the "looting of homes and properties".
The fighting has also killed 125 members of the security forces and 148 pro-Assad fighters, according to the Observatory, taking the overall death toll to 1,018.
The official SANA news agency reported on Saturday that security forces had deployed to Latakia, as well as Jableh and Baniyas further south, to restore order.
Baniyas resident Samir Haidar, 67, told AFP two of his brothers and his niece were killed by "armed groups" that entered people's homes, adding that there were "foreigners among them".
Though himself an Alawite, Haidar was part of the leftist opposition to the Assads and was imprisoned for more than a decade under their rule.
Defence ministry spokesman Hassan Abdul Ghani said the security forces had "reimposed control" over areas that had seen attacks by Assad loyalists.
"It is strictly forbidden to approach any home or attack anyone inside their homes," he added in a video posted by SANA.
- Roads blocked -
Education Minister Nazir al-Qadri announced that schools would remain shut on Sunday and Monday in both Latakia and Tartus provinces due to the "unstable security conditions".
SANA reported a power outage throughout Latakia province due to attacks on the grid by Assad loyalists.
The killings followed clashes sparked by the arrest of a wanted suspect in a predominantly Alawite village, the Observatory reported.
The monitor said there had been a "relative return to calm" in the region on Saturday, as the security forces deployed reinforcements.
A defence ministry source told SANA that troops had blocked roads leading to the coast to prevent "violations", without specifying who was committing them.
Latakia province security director Mustafa Kneifati told the news agency: "We will not allow for sedition or the targeting of any component of the Syrian people."
Sharaa's Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the lightning offensive that toppled Assad in December, has its roots in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda and remains proscribed as a terrorist organisation by many governments including the United States.
Since the rebel victory, it has moderated its rhetoric and vowed to protect Syria's religious and ethnic minorities.
- Fear of reprisals -
The Alawite heartland has been gripped by fear of reprisals for the Assad family's brutal rule, which included widespread torture and disappearances.
Social media users have shared posts documenting the killing of Alawite friends and relatives.
The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, has reported multiple "massacres" in recent days, with women and children among the dead.
The Observatory and activists released footage showing dozens of bodies in civilian clothing piled outside a house, with blood stains nearby and women wailing.
Other videos appeared to show men in military garb shooting people at close range.
AFP could not independently verify the images or accounts.
The leaders of Syria's three main Christian churches as well as the spiritual leader of Syria's Druze minority issued statements calling for an end to the violence.
Aron Lund of the Century International think tank said the violence was "a bad omen".
The new government lacks the tools, incentives and local support base to engage with disgruntled Alawites, he said.
"All they have is repressive power, and a lot of that... is made up of jihadist zealots who think Alawites are enemies of God."
jos-dcp/smw
Syria’s rebel leader courted the world. Now his forces stand accused of a massacre
Henry Bodkin
THE TELEGRAPH
Sun, March 9, 2025
Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart before a podcast recording
Only last week, Ahmed al-Sharaa was in Cairo helping to devise a viable alternative to Donald Trump’s vision for Gaza.
Dressed in a smart Western suit, Syria’s interim president was welcomed as an equal by some of the most important political leaders of the Arab world.
It marked an extraordinary rise for the former Islamist militant who so brilliantly defeated Bashar al-Assad in December.
Since then, he has opened up Damascus to Western leaders and journalists to sell his vision of a new stable and inclusive Syria.
Those hopes now teeter on the edge of ruin, given the bloodletting of minorities in the country’s Mediterranean west coast since Thursday.
Sharaa’s government now stands accused of massacring members of minority groups – Alawites, Christians and Druze – in response to a series of ambushes by gunmen apparently loyal to the former regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Approximately 750 civilians have been killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based war monitor.
Armed men attend the funeral of a member of the Syrian security forces killed in an attack by groups loyal to the ousted Assad - Shutterstock/Bilal Al Hammoud
About 125 members of the Syrian security forces have been killed, plus 148 fighters said to be loyal to Assad.
It marks an episode bloody enough to rival the worst body counts of Syria’s long-running civil war.
A joint statement by Orthodox Christian Patriarchs said: “In recent days, Syria has witnessed a dangerous escalation of violence, brutality, and killings, resulting in attacks on innocent civilians, including women and children.
“Homes have been violated, their sanctity disregarded, and properties looted – scenes that starkly reflect the immense suffering endured by the Syrian people.”
The accuracy of the numbers is yet to be confirmed; as well as the question of how far up or down the chain of command responsibility for any mass executions rests.
Either way, as of Sunday night, the international damage appeared perilously close to having been done.
Footage emerged on Sunday of thousands of civilians, apparently from minority groups, seeking sanctuary from, of all people, Vladimir Putin at one of Russia’s few remaining military bases in the country.
This embedded content is not available in your region.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, condemned the “radical Islamic terrorists” that he said had “murdered people in western Syria”.
Washington’s reaction could be particularly damaging, as Syria’s fledgling government is desperate for the US to lift Assad-era sanctions.
It might also find itself in serious trouble if Mr Trump withdraws the small but effective force of roughly 2,000 US troops stationed in the east of the country who currently keep Islamic State at bay.
Israel lost no time in blaming the new “Islamist rulers” in Damascus for the “barbaric murder of civilians”, while quietly expanding its military operations in the country’s south, largely free from international scrutiny.
Sharaa has now called for a national committee to investigate the violence.
On Sunday, he said: “We have to preserve national unity and domestic peace, we can live together.”
Speaking at a mosque in his childhood neighbourhood of Mazzah, Damascus, he added: “Rest assured about Syria, this country has the characteristics for survival... What is currently happening in Syria is within the expected challenges.”
This embedded content is not available in your region.
The current crisis began on Thursday, in a part of the country that has always posed a security challenge for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) because of its high proportion of Alawites, the minority Shia sect of Assad and so many senior regime and military figures.
Although it is difficult to parse the identities and motivations of the various armed groups, experts have assumed that some were originally militia belonging to Assad henchmen who had so much blood on their hands that they would never be taken alive.
Others were thought to be merely groups of Alawites who were reluctant to disarm because they did not trust the new Sunni rulers to protect them against sectarian reprisals.
Whatever its original composition, in recent weeks a growing anti-regime insurgency, perhaps numbering more than 5,000 fighters, has been detected in Syria’s west.
Government forces have been conducting security sweeps since the start of the year, with various clashes reported and some allegations of summary killings by forces allied to the new regime.
On Thursday, 16 troops from the ministry of defence and the government’s security force were reportedly ambushed and killed around the major towns of Jableh and Latakia on Syria’s coast.
This prompted a series of outraged demonstrations across Syria, particularly in the former HTS stronghold of Idlib, from where these particular troops had originated.
Sun, March 9, 2025
Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart before a podcast recording
Only last week, Ahmed al-Sharaa was in Cairo helping to devise a viable alternative to Donald Trump’s vision for Gaza.
Dressed in a smart Western suit, Syria’s interim president was welcomed as an equal by some of the most important political leaders of the Arab world.
It marked an extraordinary rise for the former Islamist militant who so brilliantly defeated Bashar al-Assad in December.
Since then, he has opened up Damascus to Western leaders and journalists to sell his vision of a new stable and inclusive Syria.
Those hopes now teeter on the edge of ruin, given the bloodletting of minorities in the country’s Mediterranean west coast since Thursday.
Sharaa’s government now stands accused of massacring members of minority groups – Alawites, Christians and Druze – in response to a series of ambushes by gunmen apparently loyal to the former regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Approximately 750 civilians have been killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based war monitor.
Armed men attend the funeral of a member of the Syrian security forces killed in an attack by groups loyal to the ousted Assad - Shutterstock/Bilal Al Hammoud
About 125 members of the Syrian security forces have been killed, plus 148 fighters said to be loyal to Assad.
It marks an episode bloody enough to rival the worst body counts of Syria’s long-running civil war.
A joint statement by Orthodox Christian Patriarchs said: “In recent days, Syria has witnessed a dangerous escalation of violence, brutality, and killings, resulting in attacks on innocent civilians, including women and children.
“Homes have been violated, their sanctity disregarded, and properties looted – scenes that starkly reflect the immense suffering endured by the Syrian people.”
The accuracy of the numbers is yet to be confirmed; as well as the question of how far up or down the chain of command responsibility for any mass executions rests.
Either way, as of Sunday night, the international damage appeared perilously close to having been done.
Footage emerged on Sunday of thousands of civilians, apparently from minority groups, seeking sanctuary from, of all people, Vladimir Putin at one of Russia’s few remaining military bases in the country.
This embedded content is not available in your region.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, condemned the “radical Islamic terrorists” that he said had “murdered people in western Syria”.
Washington’s reaction could be particularly damaging, as Syria’s fledgling government is desperate for the US to lift Assad-era sanctions.
It might also find itself in serious trouble if Mr Trump withdraws the small but effective force of roughly 2,000 US troops stationed in the east of the country who currently keep Islamic State at bay.
Israel lost no time in blaming the new “Islamist rulers” in Damascus for the “barbaric murder of civilians”, while quietly expanding its military operations in the country’s south, largely free from international scrutiny.
Sharaa has now called for a national committee to investigate the violence.
On Sunday, he said: “We have to preserve national unity and domestic peace, we can live together.”
Speaking at a mosque in his childhood neighbourhood of Mazzah, Damascus, he added: “Rest assured about Syria, this country has the characteristics for survival... What is currently happening in Syria is within the expected challenges.”
This embedded content is not available in your region.
The current crisis began on Thursday, in a part of the country that has always posed a security challenge for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) because of its high proportion of Alawites, the minority Shia sect of Assad and so many senior regime and military figures.
Although it is difficult to parse the identities and motivations of the various armed groups, experts have assumed that some were originally militia belonging to Assad henchmen who had so much blood on their hands that they would never be taken alive.
Others were thought to be merely groups of Alawites who were reluctant to disarm because they did not trust the new Sunni rulers to protect them against sectarian reprisals.
Whatever its original composition, in recent weeks a growing anti-regime insurgency, perhaps numbering more than 5,000 fighters, has been detected in Syria’s west.
Government forces have been conducting security sweeps since the start of the year, with various clashes reported and some allegations of summary killings by forces allied to the new regime.
On Thursday, 16 troops from the ministry of defence and the government’s security force were reportedly ambushed and killed around the major towns of Jableh and Latakia on Syria’s coast.
This prompted a series of outraged demonstrations across Syria, particularly in the former HTS stronghold of Idlib, from where these particular troops had originated.
A Syrian armed man fires into the air during the funeral of a member of the Syrian security forces - Shutterstock/Bilal Al Hammoud
One imam reportedly used a loudhailer to call for “jihad”.
Reinforcements began to converge on the affected area, including from the major cities Idlib, Aleppo and Homs – social media flooded with images of government soldiers or HTS-allied fighters setting off for the new front.
Further fighting against the Alawite militias ensued, with government forces reportedly establishing greater control throughout Friday.
During this time, two scenarios seemed to be at play.
One was a series of extremely aggressive counter-attacks by government-aligned forces using heavy weapons such as tanks, rockets, machine guns and drones.
Many civilians, including women and children, were reportedly caught up in these offensives.
The second was deliberate massacres.
Although their provenance has been difficult to verify, numerous videos have emerged of, in some cases, dozens of dead bodies, some with their hands bound, others of what look like mass graves.
Security forces loyal to the interim Syrian government ride along a road in the western city of Latakia - Getty/Omar Haj Kadour
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had received numerous reports of summary executions in the security sweeps that followed the pro-Assad ambushes.
In one instance on Friday, ISF, a branch of the new regime’s security forces, reportedly killed 69 Alawites in one go.
This comes amid reports that multiple government troops were executed near the city of Qardaha.
For a regime that was desperate to convince the outside world that it would not allow Syria to become the next Iraq, it has been a devastating few days.
Dr Burcu Ozcelik, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said: “The nightmarish violence and revenge killings that targeted Alawite villages in Syria’s coastal areas of Latakia and Tartous are warnings in real time about the fragility of the security situation in Syria. It is also a reminder of the existential challenges that the interim government in Damascus faces as it centralises security services under severe duress.”
Dr Ozcelik drew attention to the multi-tiered structure of Syria’s new security apparatus, with different levels of loyalty to the centre.
“There are several tiers made up of rebel factions under the top HTS command, each with varying levels of loyalty to the centre.
“The hardliner jihadi, mainly foreign, fighters are the farthest away from the central command structure controlled by Sharaa, and the most dangerous.”
She said the latest round of violence had “undermined” Sharaa.
‘Down a dangerous path’
However, Dr Ozcelik added: “Reacting to the violence by moving to delegitimise the interim government and the ministry of defence in its entirety – even though Sharaa has condemned the violence – rather than punish the perpetrators from the irregular factions responsible may take Syria down a dangerous path.”
Acceptance of Syria’s new government has, to a limited extent, crept into the political discourse in the West, with those further on the Right criticising politicians and journalists who have been seen as willing to give the new regime a chance.
Foreign ministers have flocked to Damascus. The narrative, particularly strong among EU countries, was that he might just have what it takes to hold Syria together following 50 years of murderous kleptocracy and 13 years of civil war.
Mr Rubio said: “The United States condemns the radical Islamist terrorists, including foreign jihadis, that [have] murdered people in western Syria in recent days.
“The United States stands with Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities, and offers its condolences to the victims and their families.”
Syria leader vows to hunt down those responsible for bloodshed
Lucy Clarke-Billings and Gabriela Pomeroy - BBC News
Sun, March 9, 2025
There has been widespread violence between government supporters (pictured on Saturday) and Assad loyalists in Syria's coastal regions [Getty Images]
Syria's leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has vowed to hold anyone involved in harming civilians accountable after days of clashes where Syrian security forces allegedly killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority.
A UK-based monitor said 830 civilians were killed in "massacres" targeting Alawites on the west coast on Friday and Saturday.
The BBC has been unable to independently verify the death toll of the violence, which is believed to be the worst since the fall of the Assad regime.
In a speech broadcast on national TV and posted on social media, Sharaa, whose rebel movement toppled Bashar al-Assad in December, also promised to hunt down Assad loyalists.
UN urges Syria to act - follow updates
Syrians describe terror as Alawite families killed in their homes
The fighting has also killed 231 members of the security forces and 250 pro-Assad fighters, according to the monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), taking the overall death toll to 1,311.
"Today, as we stand at this critical moment, we find ourselves facing a new danger - attempts by remnants of the former regime and their foreign backers to incite new strife and drag our country into a civil war, aiming to divide it and destroy its unity and stability," the interim president said on Sunday.
"We affirm that we will hold accountable, firmly and without leniency, anyone who is involved in the bloodshed of civilians or harming our people, who overstepped the powers of the state or exploits authority to achieve his own ends," Sharaa added in the video speech, posted by state news agency Sana.
"No-one will be above the law and anyone whose hands are stained with the blood of Syrians will face justice sooner rather than later."
Earlier on Sunday, he announced on Telegram that an "independent committee" had been formed to "investigate the violations against civilians and identify those responsible for them".
He also appealed for national unity but did not comment directly on accusations that atrocities were being committed by his supporters in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartous.
"God willing, we will be able to live together in this country," he said in an separate address from a Damascus mosque.
A Syrian security source said the pace of fighting had slowed around the cities of Latakia, Jabla and Baniyas on Sunday, according to Reuters.
The violence of recent days has been sparked after ambushes on government forces on Thursday.
A Syrian defence ministry spokesman described it to the Sana state news agency as "treacherous attacks" against security personnel.
It has since escalated into a wave of clashes between Assad loyalists and government forces.
Hundreds of Syrians gathered in Damascus to protest against the deadly violence in the country. Demonstrators congregated in Marjeh Square - also known as Martyrs' Square - with placards on Sunday.
Amid the fighting, hundreds of civilians living along the Mediterranean coast have fled their homes. The provinces of Latakia and Tartous were former heartlands of deposed president Bashar al-Assad, who also belongs to the Alawite minority.
Alawites, whose sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam, make up around 10% of Syria's population, which is majority Sunni Muslim.
The violence has left the Alawite community in "a state of horror", an activist in Latakia told the BBC on Friday.
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, local media reported dozens of families had also fled to neighbouring Lebanon.
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".
Similarly, the UN human rights chief Volker Türk called the reports "extremely disturbing", adding the need for "prompt, transparent and impartial investigations" into all the violations.
Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, described the killings of Alawites in Latakia and Tartous as "systematic" and "extremely dangerous", and accused Syria's interim government of failing to control the crisis.
"It was expected that after the fall of the Assad government, Syria would face a difficult transition," Amani said. "But the scale of violence now unfolding is unprecedented and deeply troubling."
Iran's government was aligned with Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, which was toppled last December. Assad was ousted after decades of repressive and brutal rule by his family and an almost 14-year-long civil war.
Sun, March 9, 2025
There has been widespread violence between government supporters (pictured on Saturday) and Assad loyalists in Syria's coastal regions [Getty Images]
Syria's leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has vowed to hold anyone involved in harming civilians accountable after days of clashes where Syrian security forces allegedly killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority.
A UK-based monitor said 830 civilians were killed in "massacres" targeting Alawites on the west coast on Friday and Saturday.
The BBC has been unable to independently verify the death toll of the violence, which is believed to be the worst since the fall of the Assad regime.
In a speech broadcast on national TV and posted on social media, Sharaa, whose rebel movement toppled Bashar al-Assad in December, also promised to hunt down Assad loyalists.
UN urges Syria to act - follow updates
Syrians describe terror as Alawite families killed in their homes
The fighting has also killed 231 members of the security forces and 250 pro-Assad fighters, according to the monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), taking the overall death toll to 1,311.
"Today, as we stand at this critical moment, we find ourselves facing a new danger - attempts by remnants of the former regime and their foreign backers to incite new strife and drag our country into a civil war, aiming to divide it and destroy its unity and stability," the interim president said on Sunday.
"We affirm that we will hold accountable, firmly and without leniency, anyone who is involved in the bloodshed of civilians or harming our people, who overstepped the powers of the state or exploits authority to achieve his own ends," Sharaa added in the video speech, posted by state news agency Sana.
"No-one will be above the law and anyone whose hands are stained with the blood of Syrians will face justice sooner rather than later."
Earlier on Sunday, he announced on Telegram that an "independent committee" had been formed to "investigate the violations against civilians and identify those responsible for them".
He also appealed for national unity but did not comment directly on accusations that atrocities were being committed by his supporters in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartous.
"God willing, we will be able to live together in this country," he said in an separate address from a Damascus mosque.
A Syrian security source said the pace of fighting had slowed around the cities of Latakia, Jabla and Baniyas on Sunday, according to Reuters.
The violence of recent days has been sparked after ambushes on government forces on Thursday.
A Syrian defence ministry spokesman described it to the Sana state news agency as "treacherous attacks" against security personnel.
It has since escalated into a wave of clashes between Assad loyalists and government forces.
Hundreds of Syrians gathered in Damascus to protest against the deadly violence in the country. Demonstrators congregated in Marjeh Square - also known as Martyrs' Square - with placards on Sunday.
Amid the fighting, hundreds of civilians living along the Mediterranean coast have fled their homes. The provinces of Latakia and Tartous were former heartlands of deposed president Bashar al-Assad, who also belongs to the Alawite minority.
Alawites, whose sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam, make up around 10% of Syria's population, which is majority Sunni Muslim.
The violence has left the Alawite community in "a state of horror", an activist in Latakia told the BBC on Friday.
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, local media reported dozens of families had also fled to neighbouring Lebanon.
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".
Similarly, the UN human rights chief Volker Türk called the reports "extremely disturbing", adding the need for "prompt, transparent and impartial investigations" into all the violations.
Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, described the killings of Alawites in Latakia and Tartous as "systematic" and "extremely dangerous", and accused Syria's interim government of failing to control the crisis.
"It was expected that after the fall of the Assad government, Syria would face a difficult transition," Amani said. "But the scale of violence now unfolding is unprecedented and deeply troubling."
Iran's government was aligned with Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, which was toppled last December. Assad was ousted after decades of repressive and brutal rule by his family and an almost 14-year-long civil war.
Convoys of military vehicles in the Latakia countryside [Getty Images]
Syrian security forces accused of killing dozens of Alawites
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