The death toll from two days of clashes between Syrian security forces and loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad and revenge killings that followed has risen to more than 1,000, a war monitoring group said.

A human rights group characterized the killings as executions and massacres, carried out in revenge against the Alawite community, which made up Assad's longtime base of support.

More than 1,000 people have died in Syria following intense clashes between security forces and Assad loyalists. The violence, which erupted after an