As sectarian violence erupts in Syria's coastal region, many Syrians, especially from Alawite communities, seek refuge at the Russian air base. Some cautiously return home despite fears. The conflict intensifies due to attacks targeting Alawites,

Armed groups killed entire families, including women and children, during an outbreak of sectarian violence in Syria last week, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday.

Syria's fragile transition from decades of Assad family brutal rule has been greatly shaken with an outburst of sectarian retribution and killings, posing a serious challenge to the new leadership led by Ahmad Sharaa.

An eerie silence hangs over Arza, a mainly Alawite village in the rural countryside of Hama province in eastern Syria. All of its residents fled after armed men from neighbouring Sunni villages rampaged through here on Friday,

The killings occurred in the heartland of Syria’s Alawite minority, escalating after a nascent insurgency formed against the Sunni Islamist government.

This past weekend’s sectarian violence was possibly among the bloodiest 72 hours in the modern history of Syria after 14 years of civil war — and it threatens to open an endless cycle of vengeance.

A Syrian military operation against remnants of the former Assad regime has now ended, having sparked some of the worst violence seen in the country in years.

Entire families including women and children were killed in Syria's coastal region as part of a series of sectarian killings by the army against an insurgency by Bashar al-Assad loyalists, the U.N human rights office said on Tuesday.

By bna Cairo bureau Hundreds of civilians have been killed in Syria's coastal region during a military campaign against Alawites, the UN Human Rights Commission announced on March 11. In footage viewed by IntelliNews' Middle East and North Africa bureaus,