Syria’s new leaders must protect civilians after ‘killing spree’: Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called on Syria's new authorities to ensure accountability for the mass killings of hundreds of civilians in recent days in the coastal heartland of the Alawite minority.

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Violence broke out Thursday as security forces clashed with gunmen loyal to former president Bashar Al Assad, who is Alawite, in areas along the Mediterranean coast.

Since then, war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces and allied groups had killed at least 1,093 civilians, the vast majority Alawites.

"Syria's new leaders promised to break with the horrors of the past, but grave abuses on a staggering scale are being reported against predominantly Alawite Syrians in the coastal region and elsewhere in Syria," said HRW's deputy regional director Adam Coogle.