At least 973 civilians, including women and children, have been killed in Syria in recent days as forces of the new administration seek to crush loyalists of former President Bashar al-Assad, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said 1,130 people were killed in clashes, including 830 civilians.

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

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.