The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said on March 8 that more than 1,000 people had been killed in two days of fighting. It said 745 were civilians, 125 members of the Syrian security forces and 148 fighters loyal to Assad.

Reports of massacres of civilian s in Syria’s Latakia are a major test for the new government of Syria. Since the fall of the Assad regime, the new authorities have sought to balance the needs of numerous Syrians from different regions and groups.

An ambush on a Syrian security patrol by gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar Assad escalated into clashes that a war monitor estimates have killed more than 1,000 people over four days.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in clashes in the coastal provinces of Syria, according to one war monitoring group.

Outstanding issues between Damascus, the armed Druze groups, and the SDF can likely be resolved through protracted negotiations and mutual willingness to compromise.

The resumption of hostilities in Syria could change everything, and the Russian military could suddenly find itself in a precarious and vulnerable position.

Syrian security forces on Sunday fired in the air to disperse rival protests after pro-government demonstrators clashed with a gathering mourning dead civilians, following the reported mass killings of Alawites.

GRAPHIC CONTENTCrowds of Syrians protested in the capital Damascus on Sunday, demanding an end to an outbreak of deadly violence that has killed many civilians.:: March 7, 2025It came as clashes continued for a fourth day in the coastal heartland of deposed president Bashar al-Assad,

Syria's leader vowed on Sunday to hunt down the perpetrators of violent clashes pitting loyalists of deposed President Bashar al-Assad against the country's new Islamist rulers and said he would hold to account anyone who overstepped their authority.