Syrian leader tells Assad loyalists to surrender, as violence said to claim over 1,300

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa says the country is confronting attempts to drag it into a civil war, as violent clashes continue to rock parts of the country.

In a video speech, Sharaa says “remnants of the former regime” have no choice but to surrender immediately.

An ambush on a Syrian security patrol by gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar Assad Thursday has escalated into clashes that a war monitor estimates have killed more than 1,000 people over four days, amid claims of mass executions and a campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Sharaa says those who attacked civilians will be held responsible, following intense international outcry.

In its latest toll, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor says 830 Alawite civilians were killed in “executions” carried out by security personnel or pro-government fighters in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus.

The fighting, which is ongoing, has also killed 231 members of the security forces and 250 pro-Assad fighters, according to the Observatory, taking the overall death toll to 1,311.

The tolls have not been independently confirmed.