More than 600 people have lost their lives in violent clashes in Syria following the outbreak of conflicts between supporters of the government and those loyal to the ousted president Bashar al-Assad.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the death toll over these two days is among the highest since the start of the Syrian conflict 14 years ago.
According to SOHR data, among the dead are 428 civilians, 120 pro-Assad fighters, and 89 security personnel. The violence became apparent on Thursday afternoon when pro-Assad militants ambushed Syrian security forces in the Latakia region, a former stronghold of the ousted leader, home to many Alawite minorities who made up his support base.
On Friday, retaliatory killings began by armed Sunni Muslim individuals who attacked members of the Alawite minority community linked to the regime.
The Syrian government declared that it was responding to attacks carried out by remnants of Assad’s forces and blamed “individual actions” for this wave of violence.
