In addition, at least 273 more people have been killed in clashes between security forces and supporters of the ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad. The total death toll is thus up to 1,018 people since the violence began on Thursday.
The 745 civilian Alawites have been killed in the coastal region by "security forces and allied groups", according to SOHR.
Syrian forces were sent to the cities of Latakia, Jableh, and Baniyas on Saturday to restore order, reports the state news agency Sana.
"Really, really bad"
Residents of Alawite villages along the coast tell of people, mainly men, being shot on the streets or in their homes. Many homes are also said to have been looted and set on fire, according to eyewitness accounts.
Thousands of people are reported to have sought safety in the mountains.
It was really, really bad. Bodies were lying on the streets, says a man who fled from Baniyas, to AP.
The Red Cross urges in a post on X all parties to allow rescue personnel and humanitarian aid to enter the affected coastal areas to "provide medical care and transport the wounded and dead".
The development is described as the most serious since dictator Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December.
UN: Deeply concerned
Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of the country's interim government and the Islamist movement Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, called on al-Assad's supporters to lay down their arms – "before it's too late" – in a speech on Friday evening.
Bashar al-Assad belongs to the Shia Muslim minority group Alawites, who are considered to have been favored by his rule.
The UN's special envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, said on Friday that he is "deeply concerned" about reports of clashes and killings. Pedersen emphasizes particularly reports of civilian casualties and urges "restraint from all parties".
Since al-Assad's fall, 300,000 former refugees have returned to Syria, announced the UN refugee agency UNHCR on Friday. Additionally, 900,000 people who were internally displaced have returned to their homes since the end of November.
