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.

Syrian security forces fought with Al Assad loyalists for a second day in the country's coastal region on Friday, as the Islamist-led government sought to quell the deadliest unrest since the fall of the former regime.

The situation in western Syria is currently the most serious security challenge to the new authorities in Damascus