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,

The death toll from two days of clashes between security forces and loyalists of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad and revenge killings that followed has risen to more than 1,000, including 750 civilians,

The recent surge in violence reflects the power vacuum left in the wake of Assad’s downfall. Remnants of Assad’s loyalist forces are refusing to surrender while the new government struggles to consolidate control. Localized skirmishes have quickly spiraled into a full-scale conflict, with both sides accusing the other of war crimes.

The clashes, which erupted Thursday, marked a major escalation in the challenge to the new government in Damascus, three months after insurgents took authority after removing Bashar Assad from power.

Security forces battled for a second day on Friday to crush a nascent insurgency by fighters from Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect in western Syria, with scores reported killed as the Islamist-led government faced the biggest challenge yet to its authority.

The observatory and activists released footage showing dozens of bodies in civilian clothing piled in the yard of a house, with blood stains nearby and women wailing as forces clashed with people loyal to former President Bahar Assad.

Syrian security forces battled for a second day on Friday to crush a nascent insurgency by fighters from Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect, with scores reported killed as the Islamist-led government faced the biggest challenge yet to its authority.

Two days of fighting along the Mediterranean coast were among the bloodiest battles since rebels ousted the dictator Bashar al-Assad.

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

Gunmen and security forces linked to Syria's new Islamist rulers killed more than 340 people, including women and children from the Alawite minority, the head of a war monitor said.

They are the worst since Assad was removed from power in early December by insurgent groups led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

The clashes, which erupted on Thursday, marked a major escalation in the challenge to the new government in Damascus.