Syria’s interim president calls clashes ‘expected challenges’ as death toll tops 600

By Nadeen Ebrahim, Mostafa Salem, Eyad Kourdi and Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN

(CNN) — Syria’s interim leader has called days of violent clashes between pro-government forces and supporters of ousted former President Bashar al-Assad “expected challenges” as a monitor said the death toll has risen to 642 people.

Eyewitnesses have accused government supporters of carrying out execution-style killings and video footage has emerged of mass graves.

The UK-based Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) told CNN on Sunday that “non-state armed groups” that are loyal to Assad were responsible for the deaths of 315 individuals, which include 167 members of state security forces and 148 civilians.

Government forces and affiliated groups were responsible for the deaths of at least 327 individuals, the independent monitoring group said, adding that this number includes “both civilians and disarmed militants.”

CNN can’t independently verify SNHR’s figures. CNN has reached out to the Syrian government for comment regarding the death toll.

Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, called for national unity Sunday as international alarm grew over the violence.

Clashes reportedly continued overnight into Sunday but CNN was unable to determine the full extent of the unrest.

“What is happening in the country are expected challenges. We must preserve national unity and civil peace in the country,” Sharaa said at a mosque in Damascus he said he used to pray at two decades ago.

“We are capable of living together in this country, as much as we can,” he added.

The United States condemned on Sunday what it said were “radical Islamist terrorists, including foreign jihadis, that murdered people in western Syria in recent days.”

In a statement, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said the US stands with religious and ethnic minorities in Syria, and that “interim authorities must hold the perpetrators of these massacres” accountable.

The ongoing clashes are the worst outbreak of violence since Assad – a member of the minority Alawite sect – was toppled in December by Sunni Islamist militants who sought to reshape the country’s political and sectarian order.

Latakia and Tartous on the Mediterranean coast are areas where support among Syrian Alawites for Assad was strong. Alawites – some 10% of the population – were prominent in the Assad regime, and while many Alawites have surrendered their weapons since December, many others have not.

The latest surge in violence highlights the challenges Syria’s new regime faces in appeasing disenfranchised groups, especially those that remain heavily armed.

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