Damascus, March 9 -- The death toll from ongoing clashes in Syria's coastal region has surged to 1,018, including 745 civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced Saturday, revising upwards previous reports.
According to the observatory, allied paramilitary groups with the new administration have been involved in retaliatory killings following a series of attacks by remnants of the ousted Bashar al-Assad government against government troops earlier this week, in which 16 security personnel were killed. Government officials said the ambushes were premeditated.
The observatory said that of the overall toll, 125 were members of government security forces, and 148 were militants with armed groups loyal to the former regime. ...