In the worst outbreak of unrest since Syria’s transitional government took power, hundreds of people have been killed or wounded in clashes between the security forces and supporters of former President Bashar al Assad this week,

It is the worst violence in Syria since rebels toppled Assad in December and installed an Islamist transitional government. A war monitoring group, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said more than 70 people have been killed. A curfew has been imposed in the cities of Latakia and Tartous, where the fighting has broken out.