Besides the dead, several police officers are said to have been injured in the ambush carried out by supporters of the deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad, who belongs to the Alawite minority.
SOHR reports that three more people were killed in the ambush, and that Syrian military helicopters have attacked Alawite militiamen in Jableh and surrounding areas.
This is the worst clash since the regime fell, says SOHR chief Rami Abdel Rahman.
The Qatar-based TV channel Al Jazeera reports that one of its cameramen was injured in the fighting.
The Syrian news agency Sana reports that large reinforcements have been sent to the coastal region to bring the situation under control.
