DAMASCUS, Syria -- A U.N.-backed commission that investigated sectarian violence on Syria's coast earlier this year found that there was "widespread and systematic" violence against civilians perpetrated by some government-affiliated factions, but found no evidence that it was directed by the central government.

An extensive report released Thursday by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria examined the violence that began with clashes between armed groups aligned with former Syrian President Bashar Assad and the new government's security forces in March. It spiraled into sectarian revenge attacks and massacres that killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority to which Assad belongs.

The violence came months after Assad was ousted in a lightning

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