Syria’s defence ministry says it has completed a military operation in the country’s western coastal region, after days of violence in which hundreds of people have been killed.
Security forces had “neutralized” loyalists of former president Bashar al-Assad in several towns in Latakia and Tartous provinces and were “paving the way for life to return to normal”, a ministry spokesman said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that nearly 1,500 had been killed between Thursday and Saturday, including 830 civilians.
The network said that security forces and allied groups had killed most of the civilians in the heartland of the Alawites in coastal Syria.
Al-Sharaa said that 200 members of the security forces were killed, but did not give an overall death toll, pending an investigation by an independent committee.
The interim President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has said he will set up an independent committee to investigate the killings and insisted the perpetrators would be held accountable.
Syrians describe terror as Alawite families killed in their homes
Defence ministry spokesman Hassan Abdul Ghani announced on X that the security operation in Latakia and Tartous had ended after “achieving all the specified objectives”.
He also said that public institutions in the region were now able to resume their work, adding: “We are preparing for the return of normal life and working to reinforce security and stability.”
