Syria has suffered its worst bloodshed since Bashar al-Assad was toppled from power, with more than 1,000 people reported killed in violence that has swept the coastal region since Thursday.

Syria's interim government has announced the end of a days-long military operation against insurgents loyal to ousted president Bashar Assad and his family in the worst fighting since the end of the 13-year civil war in December.

The violence has pitted the Islamist-led government's security forces against fighters from Assad's Alawite minority. The dead include hundreds of Alawite civilians, whom the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported were killed in reprisals after attacks on security forces.

Syria: Clashes between new security forces and Assad loyalists erupted on Thursday in the Alawite heartland, escalating into reported mass killings.

LATAKIA: Syria's new authorities announced on Monday (Mar 10) the end of an operation against loyalists of deposed president Bashar al-Assad, after nearly 1,000 civilians were killed in the worst violence since his overthrow.

Over 1,000 people have been killed in two days of clashes between Syrian security forces and loyalists of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. T

More than 1,300 dead in a few days - US condemns "Islamist terrorists & foreign jihadists who murder civilians" - Turkey supports the jihadists - Washington & Moscow call for a Security Council meetin

The violence that has killed hundreds across Syria reached Damascus and Aleppo on Monday, after Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed to bring those responsible to justice.

The announcement comes as the fighting between pro-Assad militias and members of the security forces killed more than 1,000 people, majority of whom are civilians, amid reports of rights violations.

Ali Koshmr, a 36-year-old man from Syria's Latakia, around 330 km from Damascus, woke up to the sounds of gunfire, tires screeching and dozens of armed men shouting, "Come out, you Alawite pigs, Nusayris!