More than 340 killed in Syria, including women and children

(Patria) - Syrian security forces linked to the new Syrian Islamist authorities have killed more than 340 people in the past four days, including women and children, members of the Alawite minority living in the region along the Mediterranean Sea, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced.

Rami Abdulrahman from the Observatory said that the killings were committed in Jableh, Baniyas and surrounding Alawite areas, and that this is the worst violence in recent years in the country, which has been experiencing a civil war for 13 years.

The new authorities launched an operation against what they claim to be a nascent rebellion, initiated by militants linked to the government of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Several dozen members of the security forces were killed in heavy fighting with militants, a Syrian security source said.

Syrian officials admitted that human rights violations occurred during the operation, for which they blamed disorganized crowds of civilians and fighters who wanted to help official security forces or commit criminal acts in the chaos.

However, the scale of the violence, including reports of the execution of dozens of Alawites in one village, calls into question the ability of the new Syrian authorities to govern the country in an inclusive manner, which is a cause for concern for other countries.

Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who supported the operation in a TV address to citizens, said that security forces should not allow anyone to overreact, because they distinguish themselves from their enemies by their commitment to their values.

- If we forget our morals, we and our enemies are on the same side - said Al-Sharaa, promising that civilians and prisoners will not be mistreated.