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

Syria's new authorities announced on Monday the end of an operation against loyalists of deposed president Bashar al-Assad, after nearly 1,000 civilians were killed in the worst violence since his overthrow.

Assad's régime in Syria, the new government, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, have drawn international condemnation for a four day spiral of violence in the regions of Latakia and Tartus. When a group of gunmen loyal to Assad ambushed Syrian security forces,

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.

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.