The reported fighting in the capital, Damascus, and the second city of Aleppo marked the first such clashes there since the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Analysts have said the latest violence, with nearly 1,000 dead, calls into question the new authorities' ability to rule and rebuild a country devastated by 13 years of civil war.

The announcement comes as the fighting between pro-Assad militias and members of the security forces killed more than 1,000 people, majority of whom are civilians, amid reports of rights violations.

The violence broke out when gunmen loyal to ousted president Bashar al-Assad ambushed a Syrian security patrol near the port city of Latakia.

Delle held responsible for massacres in Moadamiyet Al Sham, Darayya areas of Damascus in 2012 - Anadolu Ajansı

Outstanding issues between Damascus, the armed Druze groups, and the SDF can likely be resolved through protracted negotiations and mutual willingness to compromise.

A war monitor says two days of clashes between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to former President Bashar Assad have left more than 200 people dead.

Defence Ministry spokesman says security threats have been neutralised in al-Assad strongholds of Latakia and Tartous.

Hundreds of people were killed and residents of Syria’s coastal governorates are scared to leave home. The government of Syria says it has ended an operation in the coastal governorates of Latakia and Tartous after four days of fighting between security forces and pro-Assad armed fighters.

The violence has raised the specter of a larger sectarian conflict in Syria and stoked panic in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus.

An ambush on a Syrian security patrol by gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar Assad escalated into clashes that a war monitor estimates have killed more than 1,000 people over four days.