Clashes, revenge killings in Syria leave over 1,000 dead

DAMASCUS — The death toll from continuing clashes in Syria's coastal region has surged to 1,018, including 745 civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday.

Allied paramilitary groups with the new administration have been involved in retaliatory killings following a series of attacks by remnants of the ousted Bashar al-Assad government against government troops earlier last week, in which 16 security personnel were killed.

Government officials said the ambushes were premeditated, according to the observatory.