The killings occurred in the heartland of Syria’s Alawite minority, escalating after a nascent insurgency formed against the Sunni Islamist government.

Syria's interim leader has appealed for unity, as violence and revenge killings continued in areas loyal to ousted former leader Bashar al-Assad on Sunday.Hundreds of people have reportedly fled their homes in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus - strongholds of Assad support.

More than 1,000 people were killed after two days of clashes between Syrian security forces and loyalists of ousted President Bashar al-Assad erupt. View on euronews

In a gripping report by Rizik Alabi for The Media Line, Syria is once again consumed by violence as fighting between pro-Assad rebels and government security forces intensifies in the coastal province of Latakia.

Syrian security forces and allied groups have killed 973 civilians, including women and children, in massacres in coastal areas and the Latakia Mountains. The violence targets the Alawite community, which supported former president Bashar al-Assad.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in two days of clashes between gunmen and security forces linked to Syria's new Islamist rulers and fighters from Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect in the country's coastal region,

Syrian security forces and their allies have killed 340 civilians belonging to the country's Alawite minority since Thursday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday. The violence was triggered by attacks carried out by loyalists of the deposed Assad regime.

Syrian security forces deployed heavily in the Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast on Saturday, after a war monitor reported that government and allied forces killed more than 500 civilians

The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights says that 745 civilians from the Alawite minority have been killed since clashes broke out last Thursday between pro-Assad loyalists and forces from the new regime.