The Syrian Network for Human Rights said armed groups and foreign fighters aligned with the government but not integrated into it were largely responsible for the sectarian violence.

Armed groups killed entire families, including women and children, during an outbreak of sectarian violence in Syria last week, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday.

A Syrian security source said the pace of fighting had slowed around Latakia, Jabla and Baniyas, while forces searched surrounding mountainous areas where an estimated 5,000 pro-Assad insurgents were hiding.

Entire families including women and children were killed in Syria's coastal region during a military crackdown against an insurgency by Bashar al-Assad loyalists, the U.N human rights office said on Tuesday.

A Syrian military operation against remnants of the former Assad regime has now ended, having sparked some of the worst violence seen in the country in years.

By bna Cairo bureau Hundreds of civilians have been killed in Syria's coastal region during a military campaign against Alawites, the UN Human Rights Commission announced on March 11. In footage viewed by IntelliNews' Middle East and North Africa bureaus,