Syria's new authorities under interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa have sought to disband armed groups
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor has reported that 745 Alawite civilians were killed in Latakia and Tartus provinces.
Syrian authorities said the violence began when remnants loyal to Assad launched a deadly and well-planned attack on their forces on Thursday.
There were no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Sharaa was appointed Wednesday to lead Syria for an unspecified transitional period
No group has claimed the four activists' abduction and they have not been heard from since.
Ankara-backed rebels played a key role in supporting Sharaa's Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which headed a rebel alliance that seized Damascus on December 8, toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
The seismic change in Syria is expected to yield deeper Turkish sway just as a change of US administration is raising questions over how long Washington will keep backing the country's Kurdish-led forces.
Assad fled Syria following a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), more than 13 years after his crackdown on democracy protests precipitated one of the deadliest wars of the century.
Teenage girls abducted by Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria are being sold in slave markets "for as little as a pack of cigarettes," the UN envoy on sexual violence said Monday.
An Islamist coalition that includes Syria's al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front takes over one of the last government strongholds in western Idlib province, activists say.
Australia plans to pass a law within weeks to give the government power to strip citizenship from dual nationals who are suspected terrorists even if they are not convicted of a crime, the prime minister says.
A rare bird may become extinct in Syria because of the capture of Palmyra by Islamic State, experts say.
Saudi Arabia advertises for eight new executioners, recruiting extra staff to carry out an increasing number of death sentences, usually done by public beheading.
The Islamic State group on Thursday released an audio message purportedly from its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who has not been seen or heard from in months.
Fresh efforts to revive peace talks on Syria is due to begin in Geneva.
Islamist rebels in Syria takes over much of the key north-western town of Jisr al-Shughur, activists say.
Islamic State (IS) has lost more than a quarter of its territory in Iraq since US-led coalition air strikes began in August, the Pentagon has said.
According to Israeli military assessment, Israel could suffer hundreds of civilian dead if it fights another war with Hezbollah.
