At least 16 members of Syria's security forces were killed on Thursday in clashes with militants linked to Bashar al-Assad's ousted regime, according to a monitor group, in one of the worst

Gunmen ambushed a Syrian police patrol in a coastal town Thursday, leaving at least 13 security members dead and many others wounded, a monitoring group and a local official said. The attack came as tensions in Syria ’s coastal region between former President Bashar Assad’s minority Alawite sect and members of Islamic groups escalate.