The Syrian coastline and Latakia mountains have experienced dramatic developments, executions based on regional and sectarian affiliation and human rights violations mounted to war crimes committed by forces of security services and the Ministry of Defence and auxiliary forces, during which hundreds of innocent civilians have been killed in cold blood, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

Since March 6, SOHR has documented the death of 973 civilians in 39 massacres and other individual executions committed by military and security forces in the Syrian coastline and Latakia mountains. The civilian fatalities are distributed regionally as follows: 

Latakia: 545

Tartus: 262

Hama: 156

Homs: 10 

"This comes as a part of the unprecedented escalation of retaliatory actions and genocide which started on March 7 in four Syrian provinces. The bloody actions, which are still ongoing, coincide with setting fire to civilian houses and forcible displacements, while no international authorities have interfered or taken any actions so far to put an end to those massacres," SOHR stated.

The observatory noted that the attacks also left 231 members of security services and the Ministry of Defence and 250 Alawite gunmen affiliated with the former regime were killed. 

Accordingly, the total number of fatalities since the beginning of the attacks on March 6 has reached 1,454.

With those shocking statistics and the dramatic increase in violence practiced against civilians in Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) called upon the international community to interfere immediately and send international investigation teams to document the blatant violations committed against civilians.

SOHR also addresses an urgent appeal to Syrian authorities in Damascus to hold accountable members of security forces and the Ministry of Defence who have been involved in executions committed against innocent civilians, and stresses that escaping accountability for such crimes encourages more crimes in the future; this, in turn, threatens the political and social stability and unity in Syria.