Syrian forces shot dead eight members of the Alawite minority at a checkpoint on Wednesday, a war monitor said, after reporting that five men were found dead following their detention.
Since the fall of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, the Alawite community which the deposed president hails from has been the target of many attacks, including sectarian massacres which killed more than 1,700 people in March.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said that "security checkpoint personnel carried out a field execution of eight civilians, including three women, and injured five others -- all Alawite" travelling in "a civilian passenger bus" in the central Hama province.
The Observatory said the personnel at the checkpoint "stopped the bus and opened fire on it, then forced the surviving passengers off and shot them as well".
There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities.
In a separate incident, the Observatory said five Alawite men were found dead in hospital two days after being detained by security forces, alleging they had been "summarily executed".
It said the men were going home from work in Damascus on Sunday when their bus was stopped at a checkpoint.
Neighbours were initially told the men were detained by security forces and "in good health", said the Britain-based Observatory.
"The bodies of five members of the Alawite community were found" at Al-Mujtahid hospital in Damascus, the Observatory said, adding they had been "summarily executed" by shooting. It did not elaborate.
The bus driver was also being treated at the hospital, the monitor said. A seventh person from the bus remains missing.
The treatment of Syria's minorities is one of the biggest challenges for the Islamist-led forces that overthrew Assad in December.
The international community has demanded that all components of Syrian society be included in the transition process.
According to witnesses and international organisations, the March massacres saw the killings of entire families, with armed men entering homes in Syria's coast and asking residents for their religion before deciding whether to kill or spare them.
While the government blamed remnants of the former regime for instigating the clashes, the presidency formed a fact-finding committee to investigate the incidents.
AFP
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