Syrian Druze leader condemns government over sectarian violence

After dozens of people were killed in two days of sectarian clashes south of Damascus, a Druze minority leader in Syria has condemned attacks against his region.

Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri on Thursday referred to the “genocidal campaign” against the Syrian Druze community in Jaramana and Sahnaya earlier this week.

According to the Ministry of Information in Syria, two separate attacks resulted in the deaths of 11 members of the country’s security forces.

At least 101 people were killed in fighting between security forces, allied fighters, and local Druze groups, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a war monitor in the UK.

The SOHR, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, reported that Husam Warwar, the former mayor of Sahnaya, had been killed along with 30 government loyalists, 21 Druze fighters, and 10 civilians.

It reported 40 Druze fighters died in an “ambush” on Wednesday in the southern province of Sweida, the heartland of the Druze minority, along with 35 others in an “ambush” on the Sweida-Damascus road.

After a man’s audio clip of a man criticizing Islam’s Prophet Muhammad first appeared on social media around midnight on Monday, the fighting broke out. A Druze scholar was responsible for the audio. However, the scholar, Marwan Kiwan, claimed in a video that many Sunni Muslims found offensive on social media that he was not to blame for the audio.

A deal was reached between Druze dignitaries and official representatives on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Syrian government, which allowed security forces and pro-government fighters to enter Sahnaya and allow Druze gunmen to leave the streets.

Videos made on social media made offensive remarks about sectarian remarks made by what appeared to be pro-government armed groups beating Druze men they had captured in Sahnaya.

According to al-Hijri’s statement, “This collective killing is systematic, clear, visible, and documented.” Because the government doesn’t use its own citizens through loyal, extremist gangs that the government calls itself a government and who they are after the massacre, they no longer trust us as a group.

The new government, which overthrew Bashar al-Assad in December, faces a significant challenge due to the violence. More than 1,700 civilians, mostly Alawite, were killed in a series of massacres in Syria’s Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast in March, according to the SOHR.

Syrian authorities object to foreign intervention.

Israeli officials have endorsed the Druze, with Defense Minister Israel Katz stating that if Syria’s new administration fails to protect the minority population, it will “with significant force” respond.

Katz later stated that if the Syrian regime fails to stop the Druze attacks, Israel will act decisively.

Asaad al-Shaibani, the country’s foreign minister, stated on X that “national unity is the solid foundation for any process of stability or revival” on Thursday, reiterating Syria’s opposition to international intervention.

He continued, “Any request for external assistance, under any pretext or slogan, only leads to further division and division.”

Most Druze spiritual leaders and factions have chosen to communicate privately with the new government, but concerns have grown even more acute as a result of the government’s decision to launch a series of targeted revenge attacks on the Alawite minority group.

Videos of Alawite victims being burned down and bloodied on the streets were widely circulated. Many Alawite have fled south to neighboring Lebanon because they are too afraid to go back.