Commander of Syrian Kurdish-led forces Mazloum Abdi.

The commander of a Kurdish-led force in Syria said on Sunday the country's interim president must hold the perpetrators of communal violence in Syria's coastal areas to account, accusing Turkey-backed factions of being primarily behind the killings.

The head of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, said in written comments to Reuters that Ahmed al-Sharaa must intervene to halt "massacres", adding factions "supported by Turkey and Islamic extremists" were chiefly responsible.

Syrian security sources have said at least 200 of their members were killed in clashes with former army personnel owing allegiance to toppled leader Bashar al-Assad after coordinated attacks and ambushes on their forces on Thursday.

The attacks spiralled into a cycle of revenge killings when thousands of armed supporters of Syria's new leaders from across the country descended to the coastal areas to support beleaguered forces of the new administration.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor, said on Saturday more than 1,000 people had been killed in the fighting.

Turkey's defence ministry declined to comment on Abdi's remarks and the country's foreign ministry was not immediately available to respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Kurdish forces and Turkish-backed groups clashed repeatedly throughout the nearly 14-year civil war and are still fighting in some parts of northern Syria.

Abdi called on Sharaa to "reconsider the method of forming the new Syrian army and the behaviour of the armed factions", saying some of them were exploiting their role in the army "to create sectarian conflicts and settle internal scores".

Sharaa, who headed the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) faction that spearheaded the rebel offensive to oust Assad, was named interim president in January. Syria's previous army was dissolved and rebel factions agreed to merge into a new national armed force.

Abdi said that he was in talks with Sharaa on incorporating his fighting force into the army.

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Syrian leader calls for peace as deadly violence continues

Crowds of Syrians protested in the capital Damascus on Sunday, demanding an end to an outbreak of deadly violence that has killed many civilians.

:: March 7, 2025

It came as clashes continued for a fourth day in the coastal heartland of deposed president Bashar al-Assad, between Assad loyalists and forces backing the country's new leaders.

:: March 9, 2025

Syria's interim president Ahmed Sharaa scrambled to contain the violence on Sunday, as he called for peace outside a mosque in Damascus.

He urged Syrians not to let sectarian tensions further destabilize the country, which has seen relative calm after Assad was toppled in December.

Meanwhile, people were mourning on Sunday at a funeral for a student who was killed in the coastal Latakia province, one of the main areas of fighting.

War monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 1,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed.

It said women and children of Assad's Alawite religious minority were among the dead.

And that death toll was one of the highest since a chemical weapons attack on a Damascus suburb by Assad's forces in 2013.

Authorities said the violence began after Assad loyalists launched deadly and well-planned attacks on their forces on Thursday.

It sent security forces to crack down on the growing insurgency.

Thousands of armed supporters of the new leaders showed up from across the country to back the Syrian troops, before the battles spiraled into revenge killings.

Syrian authorities have blamed unruly militias for summary executions and deadly raids in Alawite villages and towns.

In graphic footage obtained from social media over the past days, bodies were seen strewn on the ground in Latakia.

Reuters was able to verify the locations of the videos, but not the date or the identity of the dead.

Sharaa on Friday told Syria that Assad loyalists and those who had committed crimes would be pursued and brought to trial.

Adding that those who harm unarmed civilians would be held "severely accountable."

On Sunday, Sharaa's office said it was forming an independent committee to investigate the clashes and killings by both sides.

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