Clashes between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to former president Bashar al-Assad in the country’s coastal region have left more than 70 people dead and an area outside government control, a war monitor said on Friday.

Government forces sent major reinforcements overnight to the cities of Latakia and Tartus as well as nearby towns and villages that are the heartland of the minority Alawite sect and a base of support for Assad, to try to get the situation under control, state media reported.