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More than 600 people, including women and children, have been killed in Syria as its new Islamist rulers clash with loyalists of the toppled Assad regime, marking one of the country’s most violent episodes since conflict began there 14 years ago.
About 428 civilians from the Alawite minority have reportedly been killed since Thursday when violence broke out between security forces for the ruling Sunni Islamist insurgent group and supporters of ex-President Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite himself.
The Islamist rebel group, led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, toppled the government in December and ousted Assad, who fled the country. It has since imposed Islamic law in an effort to rebuild stability in the country, but now faces its most serious threat since taking power.
Tensions were looming in the region ahead of Thursday’s deadly clashes and the new government has blamed Assad backers for attacks against its security forces over the past several weeks.
The government said it was responding to attacks from remnants of the ousted president’s forces and blamed “individual actions” for the rampant violence this week.
It responded with a major counter operation, attacking with helicopter gunships, drones and artillery, and resulting in what Alawite’s have called “revenge killings” that included hundreds of civilians, according to reports.
An estimated 120 pro-Assad fighters and 89 security forces members were among the casualties, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog group. Its death toll more than tripled from original estimates of about 200.
Alawite people told the Associated Press that, in addition to the killings, many of their homes were looted and set on fire in different neighborhoods near the western coast of Syria.
Syria’s state news agency has reported that government forces have since regained control of much of the areas from Assad rebels following the deadly 48 hours.
Security and military forces continue to comb through areas where militants are believed to be hiding out and the Syrian Ministry of Defense is continuing to send combatants and military vehicles to support units in the coastal region, according to the watchdog.
With Post wires
