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Al-Ahram Weekly
a day ago
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Govt mission of peace devolved into rampage: Syrian Druze - Region
The mainly Druze residents of the Syrian city of Sweida had hoped the arrival of government forces on Tuesday would spell an end to deadly sectarian clashes with local Bedouin tribes. Instead they spoke of executions, looting and arson as government troops and their allies rampaged through Druze neighbourhoods, prompting thousands from the religious minority to flee. "Government forces entered the city on the pretext of restoring order... but unfortunately they indulged in savage practices," said Rayan Maarouf, editor in chief of the Suwayda 24 news website. "There have been cases of civilians being killed... dozens of them... but we don't have precise figures," he added, blaming government fighters and their allies. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, government forces executed 12 civilians in a guesthouse in the city, in just one incident among many said to have taken place in the area. Syria's defence minister had declared a "complete ceasefire" in the city late Tuesday morning, but locals said the announcement had little effect on the ground. An AFP correspondent who entered Sweida shortly after government forces reported dead bodies left lying on deserted streets as sporadic gunfire rang out. "I'm in the centre of Sweida. There are executions, houses and shops that have been torched, and robberies and looting," one Sweida resident holed up in his home told AFP by phone. "One of my friends who lives in the west of the city told me that they entered his home, chased out his family after taking their mobile phones and then set fire to it," added the resident, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. AFP correspondents saw smoke rising over several areas of the city of some 150,000 people. Another resident said he had seen armed men in civilian clothes "looting shops and setting fire to them". "They're firing indiscriminately, I am afraid to leave the house," he said, adding that he regretted "not leaving before they arrived". Civilians killed It is a scenario that has played out multiple times since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad by Islamist rebels in December. In each case, former rebels recruited into the new Syrian army were joined by fighters without any clear uniform, and violence against civilians ensued. The worst episode was in March, when more than 1,700 civilians were killed along Syria's Mediterranean coast, most of them members of the ousted president's Alawite community, in attacks carried out by government forces and their allies. On Tuesday, government forces entered Sweida with the stated aim of ending the sectarian violence that had claimed more than 100 lives earlier this week. But the Observatory, Druze leaders and witnesses said they entered the city accompanied by Bedouin fighters, and joined with them in attacking the Druze. One AFP video showed Bedouin fighters riding through the streets on a government tank, brandishing their weapons in celebration. Statues destroyed The fighters toppled several statues in public squares, AFP images showed. Hardline Islamists believe such representations of the human form to be idolatrous. Unverified video footage circulating on social media showed armed men forcibly shaving off the moustache of an elderly Druze, a grave insult in the community. The Israeli military said it had carried out several air strikes on the forces that entered Sweida. An AFP correspondent saw one Syrian army vehicle in the city centre that had taken a direct hit. Several bodies were left dangling over its sides. The Israeli military said it was acting to protect the Druze, although some analysts have said that was a pretext for pursuing its own military goals. Thousands of the city's residents fled, seeking safety nearer the Jordanian border, Maarouf said. In the nearby village of Walgha, an AFP correspondent found a group of displaced civilians sheltering in a mosque. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:


France 24
a day ago
- Politics
- France 24
Syrian Druze say govt mission of peace devolved into rampage
Instead they spoke of executions, looting and arson as government troops and their allies rampaged through Druze neighbourhoods, prompting thousands from the religious minority to flee. "Government forces entered the city on the pretext of restoring order... but unfortunately they indulged in savage practices," said Rayan Maarouf, editor in chief of the Suwayda 24 news website. "There have been cases of civilians being killed... dozens of them... but we don't have precise figures," he added, blaming government fighters and their allies. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, government forces executed 12 civilians in a guesthouse in the city, in just one incident among many said to have taken place in the area. Syria's defence minister had declared a "complete ceasefire" in the city late Tuesday morning, but locals said the announcement had little effect on the ground. An AFP correspondent who entered Sweida shortly after government forces reported dead bodies left lying on deserted streets as sporadic gunfire rang out. "I'm in the centre of Sweida. There are executions, houses and shops that have been torched, and robberies and looting," one Sweida resident holed up in his home told AFP by phone. "One of my friends who lives in the west of the city told me that they entered his home, chased out his family after taking their mobile phones and then set fire to it," added the resident, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. AFP correspondents saw smoke rising over several areas of the city of some 150,000 people. Another resident said he had seen armed men in civilian clothes "looting shops and setting fire to them". "They're firing indiscriminately, I am afraid to leave the house," he said, adding that he regretted "not leaving before they arrived". Civilians killed It is a scenario that has played out multiple times since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad by Islamist rebels in December. In each case, former rebels recruited into the new Syrian army were joined by fighters without any clear uniform, and violence against civilians ensued. The worst episode was in March, when more than 1,700 civilians were killed along Syria's Mediterranean coast -- most of them members of the ousted president's Alawite community -- in attacks carried out by government forces and their allies. On Tuesday, government forces entered Sweida with the stated aim of ending the sectarian violence that had claimed more than 100 lives earlier this week. But the Observatory, Druze leaders and witnesses said they entered the city accompanied by Bedouin fighters, and joined with them in attacking the Druze. One AFP video showed Bedouin fighters riding through the streets on a government tank, brandishing their weapons in celebration. Statues destroyed The fighters toppled several statues in public squares, AFP images showed. Hardline Islamists believe such representations of the human form to be idolatrous. Unverified video footage circulating on social media showed armed men forcibly shaving off the moustache of an elderly Druze, a grave insult in the community. The Israeli military said it had carried out several air strikes on the forces that entered Sweida. An AFP correspondent saw one Syrian army vehicle in the city centre that had taken a direct hit. Several bodies were left dangling over its sides. The Israeli military said it was acting to protect the Druze, although some analysts have said that was a pretext for pursuing its own military goals. Thousands of the city's residents fled, seeking safety nearer the Jordanian border, Maarouf said. In the nearby village of Walgha, an AFP correspondent found a group of displaced civilians sheltering in a mosque. © 2025 AFP


Int'l Business Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Syrian Druze Say Govt Mission Of Peace Devolved Into Rampage
The mainly Druze residents of the Syrian city of Sweida had hoped the arrival of government forces on Tuesday would spell an end to deadly sectarian clashes with local Bedouin tribes. Instead they spoke of executions, looting and arson as government troops and their allies rampaged through Druze neighbourhoods, prompting thousands from the religious minority to flee. "Government forces entered the city on the pretext of restoring order... but unfortunately they indulged in savage practices," said Rayan Maarouf, editor in chief of the Suwayda 24 news website. "There have been cases of civilians being killed... dozens of them... but we don't have precise figures," he added, blaming government fighters and their allies. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, government forces executed 12 civilians in a guesthouse in the city, in just one incident among many said to have taken place in the area. Syria's defence minister had declared a "complete ceasefire" in the city late Tuesday morning, but locals said the announcement had little effect on the ground. An AFP correspondent who entered Sweida shortly after government forces reported dead bodies left lying on deserted streets as sporadic gunfire rang out. "I'm in the centre of Sweida. There are executions, houses and shops that have been torched, and robberies and looting," one Sweida resident holed up in his home told AFP by phone. "One of my friends who lives in the west of the city told me that they entered his home, chased out his family after taking their mobile phones and then set fire to it," added the resident, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. AFP correspondents saw smoke rising over several areas of the city of some 150,000 people. Another resident said he had seen armed men in civilian clothes "looting shops and setting fire to them". "They're firing indiscriminately, I am afraid to leave the house," he said, adding that he regretted "not leaving before they arrived". It is a scenario that has played out multiple times since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad by Islamist rebels in December. In each case, former rebels recruited into the new Syrian army were joined by fighters without any clear uniform, and violence against civilians ensued. The worst episode was in March, when more than 1,700 civilians were killed along Syria's Mediterranean coast -- most of them members of the ousted president's Alawite community -- in attacks carried out by government forces and their allies. On Tuesday, government forces entered Sweida with the stated aim of ending the sectarian violence that had claimed more than 100 lives earlier this week. But the Observatory, Druze leaders and witnesses said they entered the city accompanied by Bedouin fighters, and joined with them in attacking the Druze. One AFP video showed Bedouin fighters riding through the streets on a government tank, brandishing their weapons in celebration. The fighters toppled several statues in public squares, AFP images showed. Hardline Islamists believe such representations of the human form to be idolatrous. Unverified video footage circulating on social media showed armed men forcibly shaving off the moustache of an elderly Druze, a grave insult in the community. The Israeli military said it had carried out several air strikes on the forces that entered Sweida. An AFP correspondent saw one Syrian army vehicle in the city centre that had taken a direct hit. Several bodies were left dangling over its sides. The Israeli military said it was acting to protect the Druze, although some analysts have said that was a pretext for pursuing its own military goals. Thousands of the city's residents fled, seeking safety nearer the Jordanian border, Maarouf said. In the nearby village of Walgha, an AFP correspondent found a group of displaced civilians sheltering in a mosque. Syria's security forces and their allies were accused of going on a rampage after being deployed to the mainly Druze city of Sweida AFP Some residents reported houses and shops torched as government forces and their allies entered town AFP


France 24
30-04-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Syria's Druze: minority caught between Islamist government and Israel
Here is a profile of the religious minority which has been caught up in deadly clashes with armed groups linked to the government in recent days. Secretive minority The Druze community accounted for around three percent of Syria's pre-war population of 23 million, or around 700,000 people. They are concentrated in the southern province of Sweida with smaller pockets around Damascus. Druze are monotheistic and considered Muslim, but the sect is otherwise highly secretive and does not accept converts. They are viewed with suspicion by Sunni Islamist groups, who count among the ranks of Syria's new government whose roots are in the Al-Qaeda jihadist network. In Israel and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, there are around 150,000 Druze. Most of those in Israel hold Israeli citizenship and serve in the military. By contrast, most of the roughly 23,000 who live in the annexed Golan do not hold Israeli citizenship and still identify as Syrians. Some 200,000 Druze live in Lebanon. Civil war Syria's Druze largely stayed on the sidelines of the civil war which erupted in 2011 after Assad brutally repressed anti-government protests. Druze forces focused on defending their heartland from attacks and largely avoided conscription into the Syrian armed forces. Sweida province saw more than a year of anti-government protests before Assad's ouster. The Druze formed their own armed groups during the war. Some have begun negotiations with Damascus on integration into the new national army, following similar moves by armed factions elsewhere. Rayan Maarouf, chief editor of local news outlet Suwayda24, said some 400 Druze fighters had joined the defence ministry's forces and around 500 others had joined the General Security agency. Post-Assad Assad hails from Syria's Alawite community and as president sought to present himself as protector of all minority groups against the Islamist-led rebels. The new government has repeatedly sought to reassure minorities that they will be protected. But last month saw sectarian massacres in the Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast and this week several dozen people, including Druze fighters, have been killed in sectarian clashes near Damascus. Since Assad's ouster, Israel has increased its overtures to the Druze, voicing support for the minority and mistrust of Syria's new leaders, whose forces it considers jihadists. The Israeli government has said it has sent thousands of humanitarian aid packages to Syria's Druze community in recent months. Two delegations of Druze clerics have made pilgrimages to a holy site in Israel despite the continuing state of war between the two countries half a century after a 1974 armistice. In March, Israel warned Syria's new authorities not to harm the Druze, after clashes in a Damascus suburb. Druze leaders rejected the warning and declared their loyalty to a united Syria. On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military "carried out a warning action and struck the organisation of an extremist group preparing to attack the Druze population" near Damascus. "A stern message was conveyed to the Syrian regime -- Israel expects them to act to prevent harm to the Druze community," the statement from the Israeli premier's office added.


The Independent
30-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Israel says it carried out operation against gunmen attacking Druze fighters in Syria
Israel said Wednesday that it carried out an attack in Syria on a group targeting members of a minority sect as a new round of clashes left at least 11 people dead, most of them members of the country's security forces. The clashes on the edge of the town of Sahnaya, south of the capital Damascus, came a day after a heavy exchange of fire between pro-government gunmen and Druze fighters left 10 people dead in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana. A statement released by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel's military carried out a warning operation and attacked 'an extremist group that was organizing to continue attacking the Druze population' in Sahnaya. It didn't give details about the warning operation. The Israeli statement added that 'a serious message was also conveyed to the Syrian regime,' adding that Israel expects it to act to prevent harm to the Druze. On March 1, Israel's Defense Ministry said that the military had been instructed to prepare to defend Jaramana, asserting that the minority it has vowed to protect was 'under attack' by Syrian forces. The Druze religious sect is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. Rayan Maarouf, editor-in-chief of the activist media collective Suwayda24, said that the clashes broke out Tuesday night when security forces began attacking Ashrafiet Sahnaya. Maarouf, who is a Druze, said that since Tuesday night, residents have been contacting them to say that residential areas were being targeted. The Syrian Information Ministry said in a statement that 11 members of the country's security forces were killed in two separate attacks and that others were wounded, triggering the clashes. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said that 13 people were killed, of whom 11 were members of the security forces while two were Druze residents of Sahnaya. It added that government forces are sending reinforcements toward Sahnaya. Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party, the largest Druze political group in the country, said former leader Walid Joumblatt contacted the political leadership in Damascus as well as officials in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, adding that an agreement had been reached on a ceasefire that went into effect. Since the downfall of President Bashar Assad in December, Israel has pushed its forces into southern Syria to create a demilitarized buffer zone. 'Israel will not allow harm to the Druze community in Syria out of a deep commitment to our Druze brothers in Israel, who are connected by family and historical ties to their Druze brothers in Syria,' the statement released by Netanyahu said. ___ Bassem Mroue contributed to this report from Beirut.