The number of people killed in several days of clashes between Syrian security forces and loyalists of former President Bashar al-Assad, followed by large-scale massacres, has risen to more than 1,000, a human rights monitoring group said on Saturday, marking some of the deadliest violence since Syria's civil war began 14 years ago. Since Thursday, escalating hostilities in the governorates of Tartus, Lattakia, Homs and Hama have also resulted in civilian injuries, displacement and damage to civilian infrastructure.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which monitors the conflict through a network of informants, reported that more than 740 civilians, mostly from the Alawite religious community, were killed, largely in close-range shootings, as well as 125 members of the government security forces and 148 militants from armed groups.
The clashes, which erupted on Thursday, mark a major escalation in opposition to the new transitional government in Damascus, three months after insurgents seized power after driving the Assad government from office. The mass killings reportedly stopped early on Saturday.
There were also reports of heavy weapons being used. The violence erupted during a government operation to arrest Assad loyalists. Pro-Assad forces ambushed security personnel, reportedly leading to escalated military operations and reprisal killings by Sunni Muslim gunmen against Alawites.
The head of the Observatory, Rami Abdurrahman, described the killing of Alawite civilians as "one of the largest massacres during the Syrian conflict". There are no official casualty figures yet. According to SOHR, massacres took place in at least 29 locations in the governorates of Latakia, Tartus and Hama.
There are conflicting reports as to who carried out the massacres, either members of the government security forces or Sunni Muslim gunmen loyal to the government in "retaliation" against Alawite civilians, or both.
On Saturday, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, Adam Abdelmoula, and the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, Ramanathan Balakrishnan, urged all parties to immediately cease hostilities and spare civilians, civilian infrastructure and aid operations.
“The situation remains highly fluid, with unverified numbers of civilian deaths and injuries, including a UNRWA staff member, who lost his life on Jableh bridge on Thursday. Thousands of people have reportedly been displaced in the coastal areas. Several civilians injured were reportedly referred to hospitals in Homs Governorate,” the UN officials said in a joint statement
“The impact on critical civilian infrastructure is severe. Six referral hospitals and several ambulances have been rendered inoperable due to the fighting, while the Homs-Latakia highway remains blocked. Since yesterday, Latakia Governorate has experienced a widespread electricity outage.”
Abdelmoula and Balakrishnan said the incidents have had a direct impact on humanitarian operations, which have been severely disrupted. All humanitarian operations to and within the coastal areas had been suspended and aid workers had been advised to remain indoors, while curfews and movement restrictions continued to prevent access to essential services.
On Friday, UN Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres expressed concern about the clashes in Syria's coastal areas, including "reports of extrajudicial killings and civilian casualties". According to his spokesperson, Guterres strongly condemned all violence in Syria and called on the parties to protect civilians and cease hostilities.
“The Secretary-General is alarmed by the risk of escalating tensions among communities in Syria at a time when reconciliation and peaceful political transition should be the priority. After fourteen years of conflict, Syrians deserve sustainable peace, prosperity and justice,” said his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric.
The UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen, also issued a statement, saying that he was deeply alarmed by reports of intense clashes and killings in Syria.
In another development related to the Syria crisis, a new report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) shows that nearly 750,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned to their places of origin in Syria since November 2024.
The IOM report, released on Friday, highlights a significant decrease in displacement since mid-December 2025. However, the IOM reveals that one in five of those who remain displaced - mainly in Idlib, Aleppo and Hama - are living in tents or makeshift shelters in very harsh living conditions.
Some 7 million people remain internally displaced. In January, more than 3.4 million people were internally displaced in north-west Syria, including nearly 2 million in Idleb and Aleppo.
“Syria remains a major humanitarian crisis, and the needs are immense,” IOM Director General Amy Pope said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Friday that up to 1 million IDPs living in camps and displacement sites in north-west Syria intend to return to their areas of origin within the next year, including 600,000 in the next six months, according to a new survey.
The UNHCR survey found that 51 percent of households intend to return to their areas of origin, with 93 percent planning to go home within three to twelve months.
UNHCR estimates that more than 300,000 people have returned to Syria via neighboring countries since the beginning of December 2024. The UN Refugee Agency said these figures include refugees registered with UNHCR and other Syrians returning from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, as well as those transiting from outside the region.
However, some 13 million Syrians remain displaced, with 7 million uprooted within the country and more than 6 million Syrian refugees worldwide, making Syria the largest global displacement crisis after Sudan.
On December 8, 2024, Syria experienced a dramatic and historic turn of events when rebel forces took control of the capital Damascus and President Bashar Assad resigned and fled the country after a swift 11-day rebel offensive across the country, raising hopes of an end to the 14-year civil war.
The rebel offensive across the country, led by the non-state armed group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported by other non-state armed groups, led to the capture of the capital Damascus and other strategic cities in north-west and central Syria.
However, ongoing fighting in several parts of Syria continues to leave people living in fear of attacks and at risk of renewed displacement. Clashes between the new authorities and armed groups continue, particularly in eastern Aleppo and coastal areas.
Despite significant political changes in Syria in recent months, Syrians continue to live through one of the world's largest humanitarian crises. Across Syria, an estimated 16.7 million people - more than 70 percent of the population - are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, with women and children particularly affected.
14 years of war have left the Syrian people facing mass displacement, widespread food insecurity, crumbling infrastructure, economic decline and preventable disease. Syrian civilians have been subjected to massive and systematic violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.