Armed men loyal to the Syrian government carried out field executions and spoke of purifying the country, according to eyewitnesses and video, providing a gruesome picture of a crackdown against remnants of the former Assad regime that spiraled into communal killings.

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.

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

Sharaa on Friday urged insurgents from ousted president Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority to lay down their arms and surrender after the fiercest attacks on the war-torn country's new rulers yet.

A Syrian security source said the pace of fighting had slowed around Latakia, Jabla and Baniyas, while forces searched surrounding mountainous areas where an estimated 5,000 pro-Assad insurgents were hiding.

Syria’s leader vows to hunt those behind clashes with Assad loyalists and his Islamist government:: March 9, 2025:: Damascus, Syria:: Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syrian Interim President"We find ourselves facing a new danger represented by the attempts of the remnants of the former regime and the external parties behind them to create a new sedition and drag our country into a civil war,