Alawite fighters allegedly loyal to ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad staged an ambush on government forces in Latakia province on Thursday, killing at least 15 security personnel. Many are saying this is the interim government’s most challenging security threat yet. 

Hundreds of Alawite civilians have been allegedly killed execution-style as a response to the ambush. However, Islamic is unable to confirm which groups are involved.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 830 civilians have been killed, along with 231 members of Syrian forces and 250 Assad loyalists. 

The new Syrian government called for reinforcements, sending dozens of military vehicles to Latakia and other coastal cities like Tartus. They have insisted that “individual actions” led to the killing of Alawite civilians.

Syrian Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa called on his soldiers to avoid attacking civilians. 

“When we compromise our ethics, we reduce ourselves to the same level as our enemy,” he said in a video statement on Friday. He also emphasized that the fighters loyal to the former government hand over their weapons “before it’s too late.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on all parties to protect civilians, and High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk voiced his demand for justice and accountability.

Syrian authorities have been conducting security sweeps in Latakia since December in order to arrest former officials who were working under the Assad regime. Over the past two weeks, there had been an increase in hit-and-run attacks on security checkpoints in the area, assumed to be coordinated by Assad loyalists.

The Alawite sect of Shia Islam, which the Assad family belongs to, makes up around 10% of Syria’s population and mainly live in coastal areas like Latakia. Interim government forces who ousted Al-Assad in December have previously made promises that Alawites would be safe under their rule, but these new developments have left the minority group fearful for the future.