Syria: 340 Alawite civilians killed in regime crackdown, monitor reports

Over 300 civilians from the Alawite minority have been butchered in recent days by Syrian security forces and their allies, a monitor reported Saturday, as the new regime cracks down on militants loyal to the former government of Bashar al-Assad. 

Syria's new authorities, installed after Islamist-led ouster of Assad are now facing attacks yet by members of the Assad clan's Alawite minority and have launched a major counter-operation in the ethnic group's Mediterranean heartland.

Videos of atrocities perpetrated by the Islamist forces were circulating on social media since Thursday. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Saturday that "340 Alawite civilians were killed in the coastal regions of Syria and the Latakia mountains by security forces and allied groups" since then.

The statement added that the Alawites were killed in "executions" carried out by security personnel or pro-government fighters and accompanied by "looting of homes and properties."

The civilian deaths bring the overall toll to 553 people, including 93 members of the new government's security forces and 120 pro-Assad fighters, data from the Observatory shows.

The killings followed clashes sparked by the arrest of a wanted individual by security forces in a predominantly Alawite village, the Observatory reported.