The Syrian Network for Human Rights said armed groups and foreign fighters aligned with the government but not integrated into it were largely responsible for the sectarian violence.

The killings occurred in the heartland of Syria’s Alawite minority, escalating after a nascent insurgency formed against the Sunni Islamist government.

Syria's interim President Ahmed Sharaa said mass killings of members of ousted President Bashar al-Assad's minority sect were a threat to his mission to unite the country and promised to punish those responsible,