SYRIA has descended into bloody carnage, with 1,000 slaughtered and reports of naked women paraded before being shot in street executions.

Soldiers loyal to the ousted tyrant Bashar al-Assad launched a surprise ambush on the army of Syria’s new rulers on Thursday – resulting in days-long bloodshed.

Ongoing clashes between the two sides have marked the worst violence since Assad’s brutal regime was toppled by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in December.

The new government said it was responding to attacks from remnants of Assad’s forces – and blamed “individual actions” for the heinous violence.

Some 745 civilians have been killed, mostly in massacres, alongside 125 from government security forces and 148 Assad loyalists, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Electricity and drinking water were also cut off in prominent areas around the city of Latakia as the war-torn country entered its third day of bloodshed.

Violence began to erupt on Thursday when pro-Assad militants launched an ambush on Syrian security forces in the Latakia region – where many of the minority Alawites, who made up Assad’s support base, live.

On Friday, Sunni Muslim gunmen loyal to the government began revenge killings against members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect, terrified residents say.

Witnesses revealed how women were reportedly forced to “walk naked” in the streets before being shot dead.

And a teenage boy was also handed a rifle and forced to shoot his own family, reports claim.

One resident of the west coast city Baniyas in Syria told Sky News: “They forcibly brought people down to the streets, then they lined them up and started shooting them.

“They left nobody. They left nobody at all.

“The scene that I saw was pure horror – it’s just indescribable.”

The terrified citizen added that he hid in a bin before managing to desperately flee in the night.

Another resident, Ali Sheha, 57, fled his home with his family and neighbours just hours after the brutal violence began to unfold.

He said that at least 20 of his neighbours and colleagues in one neighbourhood of Baniyas – where Alawites lived – were killed.

Some of those brutally murdered were innocently shopping in the city or in their homes.

Residents claim that the gunmen included foreign fighters and militants from neighbouring villages and towns.

Sheha said: “It was very very bad. Bodies were on the streets.”

Homes have also been looted and set on fire, two residents of Syria’s coastal region said.

Syrian leader Ahmed Sharaa called for peace on Sunday following 48 hours of carnage and the death toll surpassing 1,000.

He said: “We have to preserve national unity and domestic peace, we can live together.

“Rest assured about Syria, this country has the characteristics for survival.

“What is currently happening in Syria is within the expected challenges.”

The Observatory’s chief Rami Abdurrahman said the revenge killings stopped early on Saturday – but dozens of innocent civilians had already lost their lives.

He said: “This was one of the biggest massacres during the Syrian conflict.”

Syria’s state news agency reported that all roads leading to the coastal region have been shut off in an attempt to “prevent violations and gradually restore stability”.

It added that government forces have regained control of much of the areas from Assad loyalists, citing a Defence Ministry official.

The bodies of 31 people killed in revenge attacks that tragically include nine children and four children, were laid to rest in a mass grave, residents said.

A funeral was also held for four Syrian security force members in the northwestern village of Al-Janoudiya.

Under Assad, Alawites held top posts in the army and security agencies.

The new government has blamed his loyalists for attacks against the country’s new security forces over the past several weeks.

The civil war that has been raging in Syria since March 2011 has left more than half a million people dead and millions displaced.

The new government has pledged to unite Syria after 14 years of civil war.

Dozens of exiled fighters from the militant Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a surprise offensive against Vladimir Putin’s ally President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December.

This marked the conclusion of a regime notorious for its brutality, including chemical attacks, mass detentions, and the decimation of Syrian cities.

But challenges remain as Syrians celebrate, but hopes rise for a democratic future after years of war.

His fall not only signals the collapse of a dynastic dictatorship but also underscores the cost of clinging to power through terror.

Bashar al-Assad has left behind a shattered nation.

He decimated Syria’s infrastructure, fractured its society, and plunged millions into despair.

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