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More than 1,000 people died after two days of conflict and revenge killing in Syria.

The death toll in the two days between Syrian security forces and the removal of President Bashar Assad and the subsequent revenge killing of loyalists has increased to more than 1,000, a war monitoring group said Saturday. Since the conflict in Syria began 14 years ago.

The UK-based Syrian Human Rights Observatory said that in addition to the deaths of 745 civilians, mainly in the close shootings, 125 members of government security forces and 148 militants from armed groups with Assad were killed. It added that in a large area near the city of Latakia, electricity and drinking water were cut off.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the murder in a statement Sunday.

“The United States condemns radical Islamic terrorists, including foreign jihad, and has murdered the Syrian people in the west in recent days. The ethnic minority communities in Syria are responsible.”

The conflict that broke out on Thursday marked a major escalation three months after the rebels evacuated Assad from power in a challenge to the new government in Damascus.

The government said they are responding to the remnants of Assad troops and blaming the “personal action” of violence.

Sunni Muslim gunmen loyal to the government’s revenge killing of members of the Assad minority Alawi sect was a major blow to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a faction that led to the faction overthrown by the former government. For decades, Alave sent people to form a large part of Assad’s support base.

Rural residents prayed at the funeral of four Syrian security forces members in Syria coastal Syria on Saturday, March 8, 2025.

Omar Albaum/AP


Residents of Alavepei villages and towns told the Associated Press about the murders, during which gunmen shot Alavepei on the streets or on the doors of houses, most of them. Two residents in the coastal Syrian region told the Associated Press from their hideout.

They asked them not to worry about being killed by gunmen, adding that thousands of people fled to nearby mountains to ensure their names are not public.

Residents of Baniyas, one of the most violent towns, said bodies were scattered on the streets or were not buried on the roofs of houses and buildings, and no one was able to collect them. One resident said the gunman prevented residents from demolishing the bodies of five neighbors killed in close quarters for hours on Friday.

Ali Sheha, a 57-year-old Baniyas resident, fled his family and neighbors with his family and neighbors for several hours on Friday.

Sheha said the attack on the Alavi minority “killed crimes committed by the Assad government.” Other residents said the gunmen included foreign fighters, as well as militants from nearby villages and towns.

Proper Syrian conflict
Relatives and neighbors mourned the killed Syrian security forces members during the funeral parade.

Omar Albaum/AP


“It’s very, very bad. The body is on the street,” Shaha said. He said the gunman was gathering people less than 100 meters from his apartment building to fire at the houses and residents, and in at least one incident he knew, asking residents to ask their ID to check their religion and denomination and then kill them. He said the gunman also burned some houses, stole cars and robbed them.

Rami Abdurrahman, head of the observatory, said the revenge killings stopped in the early hours of Saturday.

“This is one of the biggest massacres in the Syrian conflict,” Abdullaman said of the killing of Alvet civilians.

The previous number given by the group has more than 600 people have died. Official figures have not been released yet.

A funeral was held on Saturday afternoon, following the murder of four Syrian security forces members in the village of Al-Janoudiya, northwest village, in the conflict on the Syrian coast. Dozens of people attended the funeral.

The Syrian conflict
Dozens of people attended the funeral in the village of Al-Janoudiya, west of Idlib, Syria.

Omar Albaum/AP


Syrian State News Agency quoted a Defense Ministry official who asked not to be named, saying government forces have regained control of many areas of Assad loyalists. It added that authorities have closed all roads to the coastal areas “to prevent violations and gradually restore stability.”

Residents said the bodies of 31 people who died in a revenge attack in the central village of Tuwaym the day before were placed in a large-scale grave on Saturday morning. Residents said the murdered person included nine children and four women and AP photos of the body covering white cloth while lining the mass grave.

Lebanese lawmaker Haidar Nasser, who owns one of two seats allocated to the Alawite denomination of the parliament, said people are fleeing Syria to escape from Syria in the security of Lebanon. He said he didn’t have exact numbers.

Nasser said many people live in Russian air bases in Hmeimim, Syria, adding that the international community should protect the Alaveites who are loyal to the country. He said many Arawites have been fired for their jobs since Assad fell, and some former soldiers who have reconciled with the new authorities have been killed.

Under Assad, the Arawites held the highest position in the Army and Security Agency. The new government has blamed his loyalists for his attacks on the country’s new security forces in the past few weeks.

France expressed “deep concern” about recent violence in Syria. “Paris” has the strongest condemnation of civilians on religious grounds and targeted prisoners,” its foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday. ”

France urges Syria’s interim authorities to ensure that the independent investigation “completely articulates these crimes.”

According to the Observatory, the recent clash began with government forces trying to detain a wanted criminal near the coastal city of Japur and ambushed by Assad loyalists.

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