Clashes, revenge killings in Syria leave over 1,000 dead

DAMASCUS — The death toll from continuing clashes in Syria's coastal region has surged to 1,018, including 745 civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday.

Allied paramilitary groups with the new administration have been involved in retaliatory killings following a series of attacks by remnants of the ousted Bashar al-Assad government against government troops earlier last week, in which 16 security personnel were killed.

Government officials said the ambushes were premeditated, according to the observatory.

Of the overall toll, 125 were members of government security forces, and 148 were militants with armed groups loyal to the former regime, it said. However, the numbers could not be independently verified.

The war monitor, meanwhile, warned that the absence of legal accountability could fuel further violence and destabilize post-Assad Syria.

"We have to preserve national unity and domestic peace; we can live together," Ahmed al-Sharaa, the interim president, said on Sunday.

Sharaa also said current developments are within "expected challenges", Arab media reported.

On Friday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned all violence and called for an end to hostilities following the latest escalation in Syria.

Guterres is concerned about the recent clashes in Syria's coastal areas, including reports of extrajudicial killings and civilian casualties, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a news briefing.

The UN chief strongly condemns all violence in Syria and calls on the parties to protect civilians and cease hostilities, Dujarric said.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross expressed deep concern over reports of escalating violence and civilian casualties in Syria's coastal region, particularly in Latakia and Tartus.

In a statement, Stephan Sakalian, head of the ICRC mission in Syria, called on all parties to take immediate measures to protect civilians and uphold humanitarian principles.

Xinhua - Agencies