A Syrian war monitor said Friday that security forces “executed” 52 members of the Alawite minority in Latakia province, where clashes broke out with gunmen loyal to toppled president Bashar al-Assad.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “security forces executed 52 Alawite men in the towns of Al-Shir and Al-Mukhtariya in the Latakia countryside” based on videos it verified, as well as testimonies it received from the victims’ relatives.

Fierce clashes broke out on Thursday in Latakia province, the heartland of the Alawite faith, an offshoot of Shiite Islam to which the Assad clan belongs.

The Observatory and activists released footage showing dozens of bodies in civilian clothing piled in a house yard, with blood stains nearby and women wailing.

In another clip, men in military garb appeared to order three people to crawl on the ground behind each other before opening fire on them at close range.

AFP could not independently verify the images.

In addition to the 52 reportedly killed, the Observatory said clashes since Thursday killed 72 people, including 36 security personnel, 32 gunmen loyal to Assad and four civilians.

The deaths brought the Observatory’s total death count since Thursday to at least 124.

Since Assad was toppled by Islamist-led rebels on December 8, Syria’s new authorities have launched security campaigns seeking to root out “regime remnants”, in particular targeting Alawite strongholds in the country’s centre and west.

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