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

Syria's interim president, Ahmed Sharaa, responded to the outbreak of violence and armed clashes between supporters of ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad and the new government, which resulted in the deaths of many hundreds of people.

Syria said that it had ended a government military operation in response to insurgent attacks that resulted in a spiral of violence and put the country’s nascent political transition on a knife’s edge.