Syrian forces have arrested at least 68 people, including three children, in a sweep of the coastal city of Banias led by Sunni Muslim officers loyal to the Alawite-dominated regime, a watchdog said Tuesday.

Twenty-five women were also among those detained in the massive operation, which was carried out during the past four days, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding the rest were men.

The Britain-based monitoring group called on the regime to release them.

"We warn the Syrian authorities that their continued detention will ignite popular rage and spark the sectarian conflict that the security forces have pushed for since the start of the revolt" in March last year, it said.

The campaign of arrests was led by three high-profile Sunni officers bent on proving their loyalty to the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad, who belongs to the Alawite sect of Shiite Islam, the Observatory said.

Over the course of the 18-month conflict in Syria, some have warned the violence might take on a sectarian nature, in a country rich in religious and ethnic groups.

About 80 percent of Syria's population of almost 21 million people are Sunni, some 10 percent are Alawite, five percent Christian, three percent Druze and one percent Ismaili.

According to the Observatory, the authorities have arbitrarily detained thousands of Syrians, including women and children, during the conflict; many have been tortured, others have been killed.