Over 1,200 dead as ‘mass killing’ of Alawites continues despite Syrian leader’s call for peace - Sharaa's government urged to investigate targeted killings of hundreds of civilians in Alawite villages

Syria has suffered its worst bloodshed since Bashar al-Assad was toppled from power, with more than 1,000 people reported killed in violence that has swept the coastal region since Thursday.

The death toll from two days of clashes between security forces and loyalists of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and revenge killings that followed has risen to more than 600, a war monitoring group said Saturday.