Hundreds of people were killed in Syria over four days after violent clashes between the army and loyalists of the deposed president Bashar al-Assad swept its western coastal region.

A monitoring group says 973 civilians have been killed in revenge attacks against the Alawite sect since Thursday.

Assaults on the country's Alawite minority continue despite promises that Syria's new leaders will carve out a future that includes all communities.

Syria's fragile transition from decades of Assad family brutal rule has been greatly shaken with an outburst of sectarian retribution and killings, posing a serious challenge to the new leadership led by Ahmad Sharaa.