Syria’s onslaught on the Alawite area has killed over 1,000 people, according to a war monitor.

(Reuters) – Over 1,000 people have been killed in two days of fighting in Syria’s coastal area between militants from Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite sect and security forces associated with the country’s new Islamist authorities, a war monitor reported on Saturday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 148 Assad-aligned militants, 125 members of the Syrian security forces, and 745 civilians were among the dead.

Reuters was unable to confirm the reports on its own.

The observatory’s chief, Rami Abdulrahman, said the mass murders in Jableh, Baniyas, and the surrounding regions in Syria’s Alawite heartland amounted to the deadliest carnage in years in the country’s 13-year-old civil war. According to him, among the fatalities were Alawite minority women and children.

Following fatal ambushes by militants associated with the administration of former President Assad, the new ruling authority launched a crackdown on Thursday on what it described as a fledgling insurgency.

According to a Syrian security official, several security forces men have been killed in fierce battles with extremists.

Officials have admitted to infractions throughout the operation, which they have attributed to uncoordinated groups of combatants and civilians who attempted to commit crimes or assist official security forces in the midst of the conflict.

Security troops have been stationed in the streets of coastal cities, and all highways leading to the seaside have been sealed to prevent infractions and aid in the restoration of calm, a defense ministry source told state media on Saturday.