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BEIRUT: A Syrian Arab Republic war monitor reported on Saturday that more than 300 civilians from the Alawite minority have been killed in recent days by security forces and their allies, as authorities clash with militants loyal to the former government of Bashar Assad.
Restoring security has been one of the most complex tasks for Syria’s new authorities, installed after Islamist-led forces ousted Assad — himself an Alawite — in a lightning offensive in December.
They are now facing their fiercest attacks yet by members of the Assad clan’s Alawite minority and have launched a major counter-operation in the ethnic group’s Mediterranean heartland.
Deadly clashes on Thursday triggered the security operation, after previous tensions in the area.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Saturday that “340 Alawite civilians were killed in the coastal regions of Syria and the Latakia mountains by security forces and allied groups” since then.
The Observatory indicated they were killed in “executions” carried out by security personnel or pro-government fighters and accompanied by “looting of homes and properties.”
The civilian deaths bring the overall toll to 553 people, including 93 members of the new government’s security forces and 120 pro-Assad fighters, data from the Observatory shows.
The killings followed clashes sparked by the arrest of a wanted individual by security forces in a predominantly Alawite village, the Observatory reported.
The monitor said there had been a “relative return to calm” in the region on Saturday, but that security forces were continuing sweeping operations and deploying reinforcements.
Early on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported that the security forces had repelled an “attack by remnants of the ousted regime” on the national hospital in the coastal city of Latakia.
In an address on Friday, Syria’s interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa urged the insurgents to “lay down your weapons and surrender before it’s too late.”
Western powers and Syria’s neighbors have emphasized the need for unity in the new Syria, which is seeking funds for reconstructing a nation ravaged by years of civil war under Assad.
The coastal region has been gripped by fears of reprisals against Alawites for the Assad family’s brutal rule, which included widespread torture and disappearances.
The Britain-based Observatory has reported multiple “massacres” in recent days, with women and children among the dead.
“The vast majority of the victims were summarily executed by elements affiliated to the Ministry of Defense and the Interior,” the rights group said on Friday.
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.
The United Nations envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, decried “very troubling reports of civilian casualties.”
He called on all sides to refrain from actions which could “destabilize Syria, and jeopardize a credible and inclusive political transition.”
Aron Lund of the Century International think tank said the violence was “a bad omen.”
The new government lacks the tools, incentives and local base of support to engage with disgruntled Alawites, he said.
“All they have is repressive power, and a lot of that... is made up of militant zealots who think Alawites are enemies of God.”

ROME: The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Britain said on Saturday they supported an Arab-backed plan for the reconstruction of Gaza that would cost $53 billion and avoid displacing Palestinians from the enclave.
“The plan shows a realistic path to the reconstruction of Gaza and promises – if implemented – swift and sustainable improvement of the catastrophic living conditions for the Palestinians living in Gaza,” the ministers said in a joint statement.
The plan, which was drawn up by Egypt and adopted by Arab leaders on Tuesday, has been rejected by Israel and by US President Donald Trump, who has presented his own vision to turn the Gaza Strip into a “Middle East Riviera.”
The Egyptian proposal envisages the creation of an administrative committee of independent, professional Palestinian technocrats entrusted with the governance of Gaza after the end of the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The committee would be responsible for the oversight of humanitarian aid and managing the Strip’s affairs for a temporary period under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority.
The statement issued by the four European countries on Saturday said they were “committed to working with the Arab initiative,” and they appreciated the “important signal” the Arab states had sent by developing it.
The statement said Hamas “must neither govern Gaza nor be a threat to Israel any more” and that the four countries “support the central role for the Palestinian Authority and the implementation of its reform agenda.”