Hundreds of people were killed in Syria over four days after violent clashes between the army and loyalists of the deposed president Bashar al-Assad swept its western coastal region.

Syrian security forces fought with Al Assad loyalists for a second day in the country's coastal region on Friday, as the Islamist-led government sought to quell the deadliest unrest since the fall of the former regime.

Gunmen loyal to Syria’s Bashar al-Assad killed 16 security personnel on Thursday, a war monitor said, in attacks it described as the “most violent” since the longtime president’s ouster. The fighting took place in the Mediterranean coastal province of Latakia,