Syrian security forces are alleged to have executed dozens of people belonging to the Alawite minority in the coastal province of Latakia, according to a war monitoring group.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said 162 civilians have been killed in “field executions” in the region – a heartland of deposed president Bashir al-Assad, who also belongs to the Alawite sect.
An interior ministry source told the country’s official news agency Sana that “individual violations” had occurred on the coast and pledged to put a stop to them.
BBC News has not been able to verify claims that the killings were committed by the forces of Syria’s new rulers.
The total killed includes 13 women and five children, the SOHR told the AFP news agency.
Syria’s new rulers, who ousted Assad in December, said a military operation is now being launched in the former president’s home town of Qardaha.
In his first statement since the violence broke out, the country’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Syria would pursue the “remnants” of the ousted Assad regime and bring them to trial, Reuters reports.
This follows clashes between government forces and fighters loyal to Assad, which left more than 70 dead.
A curfew has been imposed in the cities of Homs, Latakia and Tartous, where the fighting has broken out, and the governor of Latakia has said all power to the province has been cut.
Earlier, BBC Verify confirmed two videos that showed a body being dragged behind a car in Latakia.
The violence has left the Alawite community in “a state of horror”, a Syrian activist in the city told BBC Newshour.
“They are feeling so fearful. They are in a state of shock,” said the activist, who did not want to use his name for fear of reprisals.
“They don’t know what to do. There is no government or state who is ready to help them, to protect them, ” he added.
The United Nations special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said in a statement he was “deeply concerned” by reports of the clashes and killings.
He called on all parties to “refrain from actions that could further inflame tensions, escalate conflict, exacerbate the suffering of affected communities, destabilize Syria, and jeopardize a credible and inclusive political transition.”
The region is the heartland of the Alawite minority and a stronghold of the Assad family, which belongs to the sect.
Estimations of the number of people killed in the violence vary, and the BBC has been unable to independently verify them.
Residents say they have been targets of sectarian violence, with one Alawite woman telling BBC Arabic that many Syrians are “scared” regardless of if they were on the coast or in the capital.
She added that “everyone is terrified from the current incitement”, and fears they will become “scapegoats”.
Turkey and Russia have warned that the bloodshed, the worst since the toppling of Assad in December, threatens the stability of the entire region. Germany has urged Syria to avoid a “spiral of violence” after the clashes.
Alawites, whose sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam, make up around 10% of Syria’s population, which is majority Sunni.
Additional reporting by Ian Aikman
