A Syrian war monitor said Friday said that security forces "executed" 52 members of the Alawite minority, a day after deadly clashes with gunmen loyal to toppled president Bashar al-Assad.

Thursday's violence saw the fiercest attacks on the country's new authorities since Assad was ousted in a lightning offensive by Islamist-led rebels in December.

Restoring security has been one of the most daunting challenges facing the new authorities since Assad's ouster, which ended more than 13 years of civil war sparked by his crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said "security forces executed 52 Alawite men in the towns of Al-Shir and Al-Mukhtariya in the Latakia countryside" based on videos it verified, as well as testimonies it received from relatives of the dead.

The Observatory and activists released footage showing dozens of bodies in civilian clothing piled in the yard of a house, with blood stains nearby and women wailing.

In another clip, men in military garb appear to order three people to crawl on the ground behind each other before opening fire on them at close range.

AFP could not independently verify the images.

Syria's new authorities had earlier launched a sweeping security operation after Thursday's clashes left at least 72........

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