Hundreds of civilians reported killed in massacres as violence in Syria spirals

International alarm is growing over fighting in western Syria, where hundreds of civilians have been reportedly killed amid intense clashes between the country’s new government and loyalists to the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad. Pro-government forces have been accused of killing scores of residents in revenge massacres.

In an update Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor that tracks casualties, reported that 1,018 people have been killed in the past two days, including 745 civilians it says were killed in "sectarian massacres" by fighters loyal to the new government.