DAMASCUS, Syria — More than 1,400 people were killed in several days of sectarian violence on Syria ’s coast earlier this year, a government investigating committee said Tuesday.

The violence followed the ouster of longtime President Bashar Assad in December. The inquiry said there was no evidence that Syria's new military leaders ordered attacks on the Alawite community there, to which Assad belonged.

Nearly 300 people suspected of committing crimes, including murder, robbery, torture and looting and burning of homes and businesses, were identified during the four-month investigation and referred for prosecution, and 37 people have been arrested, officials said, without disclosing how many suspects were members of the security forces.

The committee's report came as Syria reels from a n

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