DOZENS of people have been killed after soldiers loyal to ousted tyrant Bashar al-Assad launched a surprise ambush on the army of Syria’s new rulers. Ongoing clashes between the two sides

Syria's new authorities announced on Monday the end of an operation against loyalists of deposed president Bashar al-Assad, after a war

Residents described shootings outside their homes and bodies in the streets in Syria’s worst unrest since Bashar al-Assad’s ouster. More than 1,000 people have been killed since Thursday, a war monitor said.

Under Mr Assad Syria sank from middle-income status to abject poverty. Women saw branches off trees for heating. Children scavenge in dumpsters for food. Men pull copper wire from buildings and telecoms cables to sell. The government is broke and banks are running out of cash. “The economy is tanking,” says one of Mr Sharaa’s advisers.

Syria witnessed the most intense and bloodiest clashes between the new Syrian government and Bashar al Assad loyalists since Assad's downfall on December 8.

At least 973 civilians, including women and children, have been killed in Syria in recent days as forces of the new administration seek to crush loyalists of former President Bashar al-Assad, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Christians and other religious minorities in Syria are sounding the alarm as more than 1,000 people have been killed since last Thursday in what rights groups describe as some of the worst atrocities

According to a Syrian war monitor, the latest executions in Latakia is among the highest death tolls in the war-torn country since 2011. Most of the civilians belonged to the minority Islamic Alawite

The announcement comes as the fighting between pro-Assad militias and members of the security forces killed more than 1,000 people, majority of whom are civilians, amid reports of rights violations.