Gaziantep, Turkey: Syrian Islamist rebel groups have been accused of killing at least 190 villagers in the country's pro-government heartland and kidnapping hundreds more, as the emergence of jihadist forces fuels further sectarian strife.
Civilian residents, including dozens of women and children, were gunned down or stabbed during a co-ordinated, planned attack on villages in the mountains of Latakia province in August, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said.
More than 200 residents taken hostage still remain in the custody of Islamist rebels, the group added.
The offensive, led by al-Qaida's Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS), targeted villages largely home to Alawites, members of the Shiite offshoot sect to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs.
At one stage, rebel forces claimed they were within 12 miles of Qardaha, the town from which Assad's family hails.
''Residents told us that in the early morning hours on August 4, they woke up to gunfire and mortar fire,'' said Lama Fakih, a Beirut-based researcher for Human Rights Watch who visited a number of the villages during the first week of September after reinforced government troops managed to regain control from rebels.
''Many described how they desperately tried to flee as fighters were shooting at them. They told us how they were injured, or how family members were killed, or how they saw their neighbours lying dead in the streets.''
The group called for an arms embargo against those rebel forces responsible for arming and planning the operation, including ISIS, Ahrar al-Sham, Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar and Suquor al-Izz.