Armed men affiliated with Syria’s toppled regime carried out surprise attacks on the port city of Latakia and other Mediterranean areas, killing more than a dozen security people in some of the fiercest confrontations since the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in December.

Fighting in the western Syrian city of Latakia threatens to undermine efforts to achieve unity and solidarity in Syria, Turkey's foreign ministry said on Friday, adding that "such provocations" must not be allowed to jeopardise peace.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 52 people belonging to the Alawite minority were executed in the coastal province of Latakia.

Syrian authorities launched a security sweep in the city of Latakia on Tuesday, residents said, after two members of their forces were killed in an attack blamed by state media on remnants of Bashar al-Assad's ousted government.

The attacks came hours after the United States confirmed that it had limited Ukraine's access to commercial satellite imagery, on top of pausing military and intelligence aid. Also on the programme: we'll have more on reports that the minority Alawite community has been targeted by government troops in Latakia,

Forces linked to the new government have been battling Assad loyalists in in the port cities of Latakia and Tartous, where dozens of people are reported to have been killed. In our conversations, two women discuss new freedoms but also share fears about safety and women’s rights.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in clashes in the coastal provinces of Syria, according to one war monitoring group.

Sharaa, called for national unity Sunday, describing the outbreak of violence between government forces and supporters of ousted former President Bashar al-Assad as “expected challenges.”

Mass grave containing remains of security, police personnel found near Qardaha city, according to local security source

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.

International alarm is growing over fighting in western Syria, where hundreds of civilians have been reportedly killed amid intense clashes.