CLASHES between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to former president Bashar al-Assad in the country’s coastal region have left more than 70 people dead and an area outside government control, a war monitor said today.

Government forces sent major reinforcements overnight to the cities of Latakia and Tartus as well as nearby towns and villages that are the heartland of Mr Assad’s minority Alawite sect and a base of support for him, to try to get the situation under control, state media reported.

The clashes are the worst since Mr Assad was removed from power in early December by insurgent groups led by Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said 35 members of government forces, 32 fighters loyal to Mr Assad and four civilians have been killed since the fighting broke out on Thursday.

The observatory’s chief Rami Abdurrahman said the outskirts of the coastal towns of Baniyas and Jableh are still under the control of fighters loyal to Mr Assad. 

He added that the former president’s home town of Qardaha and many Alawite villages nearby are also outside government control.