Syria says operation against Assad loyalists over after deadly violence
Syria's defence ministry says it has completed a military operation in the country's western coastal region, after days of violence in which hundreds of people have been killed. Security forces had "neutralized" loyalists of former president Bashar al-Assad in several towns in Latakia and Tartous provinces and were "paving the way for life to return to normal", a ministry spokesman said. A monitoring group says more than 1,500 people have been killed since Thursday, including 1,068 civilians. Gunmen loyal to the Sunni Islamist-led government have been accused of carrying out revenge killings against members of Assad's minority Alawite sect following a deadly ambush on a security patrol. The interim President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has said he will set up an independent committee to investigate the killings and insisted the perpetrators would be held accountable. The violence is the worst in Syria since Sharaa led the lightning rebel offensive that overthrew Assad in December, ending 13 years of devastating civil war in which more than 600,000 people were killed and 12 million others were forced to flee their homes. Follow link for full story...