ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday urged the Syrian government to hold all those accountable responsible for mass killings in the country’s western coastal regions.

 “The accountability... must include all parties," including groups such as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Turkish-backed Syrian national army that "now constitute Syria's new security forces.”

“These groups have a well-documented history of human rights abuses and violations of international law," HRW said, referring to components of the Syrian security forces.

Loyalists to deposed president Bashar al-Assad on Thursday killed a number of members of the Syrian security forces in an ambush, an incident which prompted a violent response from Damascus, with members of the Syrian defense ministry carrying out “public executions,” killing over 1090 civilians along Syria’s western coast, predominantly Alawites, suspected of siding with the insurgents, according to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). 

The deadly escalations sparked an international outcry, with Iraq, Iran, the US, and the UN condemning the civilian mass killings. 

“Government action to protect civilians and prosecute perpetrators of indiscriminate shootings, summary executions, and other grave crimes must be swift and unequivocal,” said HRW's deputy regional director Adam Coogle, condemning the "coastal killing spree."

Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Sunday vowed that they “will hold accountable, firmly and without leniency, anyone who was involved in the bloodshed of civilians... or who overstepped the powers of the state," while the presidency issued a decree for the formation of a committee to probe the “violations against civilians and identify those responsible for them.”

Four days after the altercations broke out, the Syrian defense ministry on Monday announced the end of its operations along the western coast of the country.

Another 120 civilians have been killed, however, since then, according to SOHR. 

Speaking after a meeting of his cabinet on Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reaffirmed his support for Sharaa, saying they would continue to provide “every kind of support possible” for Syria to recover and preserve its territorial integrity, condemning “all attacks, acts of terrorism and intimidation that target Syria's unity, stability, and social peace.”