Syria's Islamist-led government on Monday said it had completed a military operation against a nascent insurgency by Bashar al-Assad loyalists, as it faced Western demands for accountability over the reported killing of hundreds of civilians.

Syrians gathered in Damascus’s al-Marjeh square on Sunday to demonstrate against the unrest that has rocked the country’s western coastal regions, calling for holding perpetrators of civilian killings accountable and urging “inclusion and freedom for all” in the transitional phase of governance.

Syria’s interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has formed a committee to investigate the violence in some cities that killed hundreds of civilians in recent days and sparked condemnation from the international community.