DAMASCUS — Syria's leader Ahmed Al Sharaa on Friday urged insurgents from ousted president Bashar Al Assad's Alawite minority to lay down their arms and surrender after the fiercest attacks on the war-torn country's new rulers yet.
"You attacked all Syrians and made an unforgivable mistake. The riposte has come, and you have not been able to withstand it," Sharaa said in a speech broadcast on Telegram by the Syrian presidency.
"Lay down your weapons and surrender before it's too late."
Restoring security has been one of the most complex tasks for Syria's new authorities, installed after Islamist-led forces ousted Assad in a lightning offensive in December.
A Syria war monitor reported on Saturday that government and allied forces killed more than 300 civilians from the Alawite minority in recent days, as authorities clash with militants loyal to ousted president Bashar al-Assad.
The clashes that broke out on Thursday were the fiercest since Assad -- himself an Alawite -- was toppled in a lightning rebel offensive in December, and came after days of tensions in Latakia province that forms part of the heartland of the religious minority.
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.
In his Friday address, Sharaa, who headed the coalition that forced out Assad, also vowed to keep working towards "monopolising weapons in the hands of the state".
"There will be no more unregulated weapons," he pledged.
Western powers and Syria's neighbours have emphasised the need for unity in the new Syria, which is seeking funds for reconstructing a nation ravaged by years of war under Assad.
‘Premeditated'
The Britain-based Observatory said "five separate massacres" left 162 civilians dead, including women and children, in Syria's coastal region on Friday.
"The vast majority of the victims were summarily executed by elements affiliated to the Ministry of Defence and the Interior," both under the Islamist-led authorities' control, the rights group said.
The Observatory and activists released footage showing dozens of bodies in civilian clothing piled outside a house, with blood stains nearby and women wailing.
Other videos appeared to show men in military garb shooting people at close range.
AFP could not independently verify the images.
The United Nations envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, decried "very troubling reports of civilian casualties".
He called on all sides to refrain from actions which could "destabilise Syria, and jeopardise a credible and inclusive political transition".
An interior ministry source quoted by official news agency SANA said isolated incidents had occurred on the coast and pledged to put a stop to them.
Authorities launched a sweeping security operation after Thursday's clashes, which the Observatory said left 78 people dead, including gunmen, security force members and civilians.
Mustafa Kneifati, a security official in Latakia, said pro-Assad militia fighters carried out "a well-planned and premeditated attack" on government forces' positions and patrols around the coastal town of Jableh.
Curfews
A curfew was imposed until Saturday in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, heartland of the ousted president's Alawite religious minority, and authorities on Friday announced a security sweep in the Jableh area, between the two provinces.
Officials blamed "sabotage" for a power outage that affected much of Latakia province.
A curfew has also been imposed in Syria's confessionally divided third city Homs.
The security operation "targeted remnants of Assad's militias and those who supported them", an official cited by SANA said, as he called on civilians to stay in their homes.
"All night, we heard the sounds of gunfire and explosions," said Ali, a farmer living in Jableh, describing the urban battles in his area.
"Everyone's afraid... we are trapped at home and we can't go out."
‘Under attack'
Earlier in the week, the Observatory reported four civilians killed in a security operation in the Latakia area, where state media had said "militia remnants" supporting Assad killed two security personnel in an ambush.
"Both sides feel like they're under attack, both sides have suffered horrific abuses at the hands of the other side, and both sides are armed," Syria expert Aron Lund, a fellow at the Century International think tank, told AFP.
Forces led by Sharaa's Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham launched the offensive that toppled Assad on December 8, when he fled to Russia with his family.
Syria's new security forces have since carried out extensive campaigns seeking to root out Assad loyalists from his former bastions.
During those campaigns, residents and organisations have reported executions and other violations, which the authorities have described as "isolated incidents".
Russia called on Syrian authorities to "put an end to the bloodshed as soon as possible".
Iran, another major ally of Assad, said it strongly opposes "harming innocent Syrian people from any group and tribe".
Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey have reaffirmed their support for the new authorities, while Jordan condemned "attempts to drive Syria toward anarchy".
The United Arab Emirates also condemned the attacks by armed groups against Syrian security forces.
Germany meanwhile urged Syria's authorities to avoid a "spiral of violence".
The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Friday readmitted Syria, which was suspended in 2012, early in the civil war under Assad, following the long-time ruler's toppling.
"This decision represents an important step towards Syria's return to the regional and international communities as a free and just state," a Syrian foreign ministry statement said.
