Over 1,000 people, including 745 civilians, have been killed in two days of clashes between Syrian security forces and Assad's fighters in Syria.
As reported in foreign media, this is one of the highest casualty figures there since 2011.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says hundreds of civilians have been executed by fighters "loyal" to the ousted Assad regime in Latakia province.
This type of rebellion was completely unexpected and came 3 months after Bashar al-Assad fled the country.
The current President of Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa, has called for national unity.
"This country has the conditions for peace, we can coexist. What is happening is not something unexpected, it is a challenge that must be overcome," he said in a video filmed inside a mosque in Damascus.
He further warned that "anyone who has harmed and taken the lives of civilians will face the harshest punishment."