Worst violence in Syria since Assad fall as dozens killed in clashes
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8 days ago

Security forces of Syria's new rulers have engaged in heavy fighting with fighters loyal to deposed President Bashar al-Assad in a coastal area of the country.

It is the worst violence in Syria since rebels toppled Assad in December and installed an Islamist transitional government.

A war monitoring group, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said more than 70 people have been killed.

A curfew has been imposed in the cities of Latakia and Tartous, where the fighting has broken out.

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BBC Verify confirmed the location of two videos posted online that showed gunmen shooting repeatedly at a building, igniting a fire inside, in the city of Homs on Thursday evening.

Two other verified videos show a body being dragged behind a car in Latakia.

The coastal region is the heartland of the Alawite minority, and a stronghold of the Assad family, which belong to the Alawite sect.

Estimations of the number of people killed in the violence vary, and the BBC has been unable to independently verify them.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday that 71 people had been killed, including 35 members of government forces, 32 gunmen affiliated to the former regime's army, and four civilians.

The clashes left tens of others injured, the human rights group said.



Gunmen, some from the former regime, had ambushed military forces, checkpoints and headquarters along the coastline, the organisation said.

One Sunni civilian witness called the attack "planned and prepared", while another told BBC Arabic that the indiscriminate firing on everyone including paramedics, was like something from the previous Assad regime.

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"They live in big fear": The BBC visits displaced Alawites in Lebanon, thousands of Syrians have crossed into Lebanon from the provinces of Latakia and Tartus.


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**Middle East**  
They live in big fear: The BBC visits displaced Alawites in Lebanon, thousands of Syrians have crossed into Lebanon from the provinces of Latakia and Tartus.


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**Middle East**  



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**Middle East**  

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