Syria security forces disperse rival protests in Damascus

Syrian security forces fire into the air to disperse rival protests after pro-government demonstrators clash with a gathering mourning dead civilians, following the reported mass killings of Alawites.

Deadly violence in Syria's Alawite heartland in the country's north-west has seen hundreds killed in targeted attacks against the religious minority or in clashes between security forces and armed groups loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said security forces and allied groups had killed 830 Alawite civilians over the past four days.