Plenty of Syrians are disappointed by the lack of justice for the former regime. Deals have been cut with commanders responsible for massacres under Mr Assad. “It was very clear that there was something boiling which had to do with accountability and transitional justice,” says Orwa Ajjoub, a Syrian researcher at Malmo university.

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.

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

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

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.

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

Syria's leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has vowed to hold anyone involved in harming civilians accountable after days of clashes where Syrian security forces allegedly killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority. A UK-based monitor said 830 civilians were killed in "massacres" targeting Alawites on the west coast on Friday and Saturday.

The resumption of hostilities in Syria could change everything, and the Russian military could suddenly find itself in a precarious and vulnerable position.