ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - At least 70 people were killed and dozens more injured in Syria in clashes between Damascus security forces and Assad loyalists in the country’s western coastal regions, a war monitor said Friday.

"More than 70 killed and dozens wounded and captured in bloody clashes and ambushes on the Syrian coast between members of the Ministry of Defense and Interior and militants from the defunct regime's army," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said in a post on X.

The deadly Thursday clashes occurred in the western coastal cities of Jableh, Latakia - the heartland of Assad's Alawite minority.

The fierce clashes were "the most violent attacks against the new authorities" since Assad was ousted in December in a lightning offensive that took less than two weeks, it said. 

The sharp escalations forced the government to impose a curfew on the cities of Latakia and Tartous until 10:00 am on Friday.

The curfew is to launch an operation to "target the remnants of Assad's militias and those who supported and backed them,” state-run SANA quoted a military official as saying, advising residents to stay in their homes. “We advise our civilians to remain in their homes and immediately report any suspicious movements.

Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria on Friday blamed the new Damascus administration for clashes between Assad loyalists and the government’s security forces. 

“The reason for the clashes is a misinterpretation of Syria’s reality by the new authorities in Damascus,” the Democratic Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (DAANES) said in a statement, warning of severe consequences of the sharp escalations.  

Since Assad's toppling, Syria has seen clashes in regions that were once the deposed president's stronghold, often blamed on Assad supporters. The new Damascus authorities have launched several operations in the course of the past three months, targeting "regime remnants" and making arrests.