Armed men loyal to the Syrian government carried out field executions and spoke of purifying the country, according to eyewitnesses and video, providing a gruesome picture of a crackdown against remnants of the former Assad regime that spiraled into communal killings.

Syria’s interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has formed a committee to investigate the violence in some cities that killed hundreds of civilians in recent days and sparked condemnation from the international community.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 700 civilians had been killed in 48 hours.

More than 700 civilians of the Alawite religious minority have been killed, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.

In a gripping report by Rizik Alabi for The Media Line, Syria is once again consumed by violence as fighting between pro-Assad rebels and government security forces intensifies in the coastal province of Latakia.