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.

This past weekend’s sectarian violence was possibly among the bloodiest 72 hours in the modern history of Syria after 14 years of civil war — and it threatens to open an endless cycle of vengeance.

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.

The UN human rights office has verified the killing of 111 civilians in the coastal region, but says the actual figure is far higher.

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,