Alawites, a Shia sect, ruled Syria for decades under the Assads. Now, after Bashar al-Assad's fall, they face violence as sectarian tensions escalate in the war-torn country

Many thought they were designed to provide the Alawites with the underpinnings of an alternative state in case Syria broke up.However, the bloodshed deep into the Alawite heartland, and the near absence of condemnation among Syria’s Sunni majority,

The death toll from two days of clashes between security forces and loyalists of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and revenge killings that followed has risen to more than 600, a war monitoring group said Saturday.