Syria's Defense Ministry announced the end of military operations against loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad along the Mediterranean coast on Monday, in what has been among the bloodiest conflicts in a decade.

The violence erupted after Assad loyalists ambushed a Syrian security patrol last week, leading to intense clashes and a series of revenge killings targeting Assad's Alawite sect.

The clashes killed 973 civilians, including women and children, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) on Monday. Those targeted included civilians who were not members of the Alawite sect.

Defense Ministry spokesperson Hassan Abdel-Ghani said that public institutions were now able to resume work and offer services.

"We were able to absorb the attacks from the remnants of the former regime and its officers. We shattered their element of surprise and managed to push them away from vital centers, securing most of the main roads," Abdel-Ghani said, in statements carried by the state news agency SANA.

The SOHR reported on Monday that a total of 39 "massacres" were reported since the violence erupted last week in Latakia, once the stronghold of the Assad family. It then spread to Tartus, Hama and Homs. The Mediterranean coast is seen as the Alawite heartland in Syria.

Widespread revenge operations against the Alawites were reported amid the clashes, with the SOHR describing them as "ethnic cleansing." The killings have been accompanied by the burning of homes and forced displacement.

Tensions have been escalating since Assad's ouster last December, with sectarian attacks continuing despite promises from Syria's interim rulers of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to preserve inclusivity and protect minorities.

Assad loyalist gunmen overwhelmed government security forces during their ambush and briefly seized the hometown of the ousted president, Qardaha. Damascus struggled to send reinforcements.

The Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam, was a key support base for Assad's government in the Sunni-majority country.

Many of Assad's opponents viewed his rule as granting privileges to the Alawite community.

During the civil war, militant groups emerged across Syria, often treating Alawites as allies of Assad and his backers, Russia and Iran.

Both the Kremlin and Tehran condemned on Monday the violence in Syria and called for it to end as soon as possible. 

Iran's Foreign Ministry also denied any involvement in the violence. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the French AFP news agency last Friday that Tehran has remained "an observer” since Assad's overthrow.

China's Foreign Ministry called for an immediate halt to the fighting. Meanwhile the French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also condemned the violence, stating that "those responsible must be punished.”

Syria's interim government has promised a transition to a political system that includes the country's diverse religious and ethnic groups through fair elections. Interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, a former leader of the Sunni HTS, has made assurances of inclusivity, but many remain doubtful about whether true representation will be achieved.

Edited by: Rana Taha