Syria has suffered its worst bloodshed since Bashar al-Assad was toppled from power, with more than 1,000 people reported killed in violence that has swept the coastal region since Thursday.

Lebanon could be on the brink of a “massive” new refugee crisis if massacres of the Alawite minority in Syria continue, Lebanese MP Haydar Nasr has told The National. Independent MP Mr Nasr, who comes from the Alawite community in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli,

Syria has suffered its worst bloodshed since Bashar al-Assad was toppled from power, with more than 1,000 people reported killed in violence that has swept the coastal region since Thursday. The violence has pitted the Islamist-led government's security forces against fighters from Assad's Alawite minority.

Syria's new authorities announced on Monday the end of an operation against loyalists of deposed president Bashar al-Assad, after nearly 1,000 civilians were killed in the worst violence since his overthrow.