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.

Gunmen and security forces linked to Syria's new Islamist rulers have killed more than 340 people, including women and children from the Alawite minority, in the country's coastal region since Thursday,

Fierce clashes over the past two days between security forces under Syria’s new Islamist government and gunmen belonging to the country’s Alawite religious minority killed scores of people, marking the most widespread violence since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

In the worst outbreak of unrest since Syria’s transitional government took power, hundreds of people have been killed or wounded in clashes between the security forces and supporters of former President Bashar al Assad this week,

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.