Foreign ministers of Türkiye, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria met in Amman amid heightened violence in Syria’s coastal provinces - Anadolu Ajansı

Security forces were seen on the streets of Latakia on Saturday, March 8, amid reports that hundreds of members of the Alawite minortiy were killed. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said 745 Alawites were killed in “30 massacres” as part of “an ethnic cleansing operation” on Friday and Saturday.

Syrian presidency establishes commission to probe violent events that unfolded after coordinated attacks by Assad regime remnants - Anadolu Ajansı

The clashes raise concerns about Syria’s stability and interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa’s ability to reunify the country after 13 years of civil war.

Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has launched an investigation into the deadly clashes in Latakia and Tartous, vowing to hold those responsible for civilian bloodshed accountable. The independent committee will submit its findings within 30 days as the government seeks to prevent further unrest.

A war monitor says two days of clashes between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to former President Bashar Assad have left more than 200 people dead.

The attack Thursday near the port city of Latakia reopened the wounds of the country’s 13-year civil war and sparked the worst violence Syria has seen since December, when insurgents led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, overthrew Assad.

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

Clashes between government security forces and supporters of ousted former President Bashar al-Assad have killed at least 311 people in Syria since Thursday, according to a monitoring group that warns the actual death toll could be “much higher.

International alarm is growing over fighting in western Syria, where hundreds of civilians have been reportedly killed amid intense clashes.

Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, appealed yesterday for calm and unity after violence erupted last week between fighters affiliated with his government and those loyal to the ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in fighting between forces of the new government and remnants of the ousted regime, according to a war monitor, which said about 700 were civilians.