Syrian authorities said four civilians were targeted by unknown attackers in the Tal Kalakh area near the Lebanese border, killing two of them.

Since an offensive toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, the Alawite community, which he hails from, has been repeatedly attacked.

Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the three civilians were killed in Baruha village by “local armed groups” who also set fire to shops and cars.

The head of security in Homs province, Murhaf Naasan, said: “Four civilians were directly targeted by unknown people, killing two of them and critically wounding two others.”

The deaths came hours after Syria’s state-run Sana news agency reported that a security officer had been killed in an attack in the Tal Kalakh area.

In March, sectarian massacres in the Alawite heartland on Syria’s Mediterranean coast saw security forces and allied groups kill more than 1,700 civilians, mostly Alawites, according to the observatory’s figures.

The government accused Assad loyalists of sparking the violence by launching coordinated attacks on security forces.

The government has since launched an inquiry.