Thousands of these fighters flooded into the region, and according to a recent report from the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria, 1,400 people—mostly civilians—were killed in the ensuing sectarian violence.

Editor’s note: This story contains a graphic image showing a burned body. TARTUS GOVERNORATE, Syria—In early March, militias associated with the ousted regime of Bashar al-Assad launched a coordinated armed uprising along the country’s coast. Syria’s new leadership in Damascus quickly ordered a general mobilization of its security services, and several other factions rallied behind the government.

Editor’s note: This story contains a graphic image showing a burned body.

TARTUS GOVERNORATE, Syria—In early March, militias associated with the ousted regime of Bashar al-Assad launched a coordinated armed uprising along the country’s coast. Syria’s new leadership in Damascus quickly ordered a general mobilization of its security services, and several other factions rallied behind the government.

Thousands of these fighters flooded into the region, and according to a recent report from the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria, 1,400 people—mostly civilians—were killed in the ensuing sectarian violence.

The coastal region is home to most of Syria’s Alawites, a religious minority group that makes up 10 percent of the population in the Sunni-majority country. The Assad family hails from the Alawite minority, along with much of the former regime’s leadership and security apparatus.

Syria’s ethnic divisions have been a flashpoint since Assad’s fall.