More than 1,000 people, including 745 mostly Alawite civilians, were killed in clashes between Syrian security forces and remnants linked to ousted President Bashar al-Assad, and a wave of sectarian-fuelled revenge killings across the coastal area,

Syrian security forces deployed heavily in the Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast this weekend, after a war monitor reported that government and allied forces killed nearly 750 civilians from the religious minority in recent days.

Fierce clashes over the past two days between security forces under Syria’s new Islamist government and gunmen belonging to the country’s Alawite religious minority killed scores of people, marking the most widespread violence since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

In the worst outbreak of unrest since Syria’s transitional government took power, hundreds of people have been killed or wounded in clashes between the security forces and supporters of former President Bashar al Assad this week,

At least 70 people have died in armed clashes between Syria's security forces and forces still loyal to deposed dictator Bashir al-Assad, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

A war monitor says that clashes between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to former President Bashar Assad in the country’s coastal region have left more than 70 people dead and the area outside