Witnesses tell of dead bodies in piles and people fleeing in panic. On Sunday, Syria's interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa called for peace.
We must preserve national unity and civil peace as far as possible, and – God willing – we will be able to live together in this country, he said when he visited a mosque in Damascus.
Several "remains"
The country's leadership also announced that a seven-man strong "independent committee" has been formed to investigate the violence and identify those responsible.
According to Monday's information from the Defense Department, it involves security cells and elements from the previously overthrown regime that have been neutralized in the provinces of Latakia and Tartus. Over 1,300 people are said to have been killed in the area in recent days, according to the British-based Syrian Human Rights Observatory (SOHR), which has also reported on outright massacres of civilians.
There has been tension in the country's coastal areas since Bashar al-Assad and his regime were overthrown in December. It is where the Shia Alawites, a minority to which the former authoritarian leader belonged, mainly live.
Religious tensions
After the regime change, the new security forces, consisting of former rebel groups, have taken action in the villages and, among other things, arrested former generals.
Under the surface in the war-torn and heavily armed country, religious tensions are simmering. On Thursday, the situation escalated when security forces in the coastal city of Jableh were killed in an ambush by what is claimed to be supporters of al-Assad.
