A new round of fighting in the Latakia Province of Syria has left at least 31 people dead, including 12 rebels and 19 fighters loyal to the Assad government, in battles across a mountainous region.
The rebels raided 10 different Alawite villages in the mountains, sparking retaliation from Syrian Army artillery and battling with Alawite militias that oppose a rebel takeover.
The fighting is just more of the sectarian warfare that his typified the conflict over the past several months, with Sunni Islamist factions in the rebellion chasing Alawites out of much of the northern portion of the nation.
Latakia seems like it may be one of the next battleground provinces, as the military has retaken territory around Homs and may look to press toward the coast as well as Aleppo.