Security forces of Syria’s new rulers have engaged in heavy fighting with fighters loyal to deposed President Bashar al-Assad in a coastal area of the country.
It is the worst violence in Syria since rebels toppled Assad in December and installed an Islamist transitional government.
A war monitoring group, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said more than 70 people have been killed.
A curfew has been imposed in the cities of Latakia and Tartous, where the fighting has broken out.
Syrian security forces accused of executing dozens of Alawites
BBC Verify confirmed the location of two videos posted online that showed gunmen shooting repeatedly at a building, igniting a fire inside, in the city of Homs on Thursday evening.
Two other verified videos show a body being dragged behind a car in Latakia.
The coastal region is the heartland of the Alawite minority, and a stronghold of the Assad family, which belong to the Alawite sect.
Estimations of the number of people killed in the violence vary, and the BBC has been unable to independently verify them.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday that 71 people had been killed, including 35 members of government forces, 32 gunmen affiliated to the former regime’s army, and four civilians.
The clashes left tens of others injured, the human rights group said.
BBC Verify confirmed the location of two videos posted online that showed gunmen shooting repeatedly at a building, igniting a fire inside, in the city of Homs on Thursday evening.
Two other verified videos show a body being dragged behind a car in Latakia.
The coastal region is the heartland of the Alawite minority, and a stronghold of the Assad family, which belong to the Alawite sect.
Estimations of the number of people killed in the violence vary, and the BBC has been unable to independently verify them.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday that 71 people had been killed, including 35 members of government forces, 32 gunmen affiliated to the former regime’s army, and four civilians.
The clashes left tens of others injured, the human rights group said.
