The United Nations said in February that about a hundred have been killed from exploding ordnance during the last 13 years, adding that since the ouster of Bashar Assad in December, over 1,400 unexploded devices across Syria have been safely disposed of and 138 minefields and contaminated areas identified in Idleb, Aleppo, Hama, Deir-ez-Zor and Lattakia.
Latakia, a key port city, and Syria's coastal province recently witnessed a surge in violence, after gunmen loyal to Assad ambushed a security patrol. While the government's counter-offensive, alongside allied factions, crushed the insurgency, it led to widespread destruction and numerous cases of retaliatory attacks against members of the Alawite community, which the Assad family is part of.
The clashes and revenge killings led to the deaths of more than 1,000 people.