Worst violence in Syria since Assad fall as dozens killed in clashes

Syrian forces head to Latakia after heavy clashes were reported

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.

Gunmen, some from the former regime, had ambushed military forces, checkpoints and headquarters along the coastline, the organisation said.

One Sunni civilian witness called the attack "planned and prepared", while another told BBC Arabic that the indiscriminate firing on everyone including paramedics, was like something from the previous Assad regime.

"They did not have any mercy, so we are against any violence against anyone in the Syrian coast who has not been involve in this unrest. All of them are civilians and they are all like our family," they explained.

One Alawite said many Syrian people are "scared" regardless of if they were on the coast or in the capital.

Speaking to the BBC, she added that "everyone is terrified from the current incitement", and fears they will become "scapegoats".

Local gunmen took hold of military zones, where they holed up in areas in the Latakia mountains to launch attacks, while others holed up in Jableh city.

Members of the former regime army have been deployed in several coastal towns and villages, while military forces have been ambushed on highways.

Late on Thursday, Syrian-based Step news agency reported that government-aligned forces had killed "about 70" former regime fighters, while more than 25 others were captured in Jableh and the surrounding areas.

A spokesman for Syria's defence ministry, Colonel Hassan Abdul Ghani, issued a warning to Assad loyalists fighting in Latakia via state media.

"Thousands have chosen to surrender their weapons and return to their families, while some insist on fleeing and dying in defence of murderers and criminals. The choice is clear: lay down your weapons or face your inevitable fate," he said.

The region has become a major security challenge for interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Alawite activists said their community had been subjected to violence and attacks since Assad fell, particularly in rural Homs and Latakia.

He is also facing resistance in the south, where there have been clashes with Druze forces in recent days.

Earlier this week, Syria's foreign minister told the global chemical weapons watchdog that the new government was committed to destroying any remaining stockpiles produced under-Assad.

Assad's government denied ever using chemical weapons during the 14-year civil war, but activists accused it of carrying out of dozens of chemical attacks.