Syrian Druze spiritual leader slams government over deadly sectarian clashes

DAMASCUS AP Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri on Thursday harshly criticized Syria s regime for what he called an unjustified genocidal attack on the minority neighborhood during deadly sectarian fighting in Druze-majority areas south of Damascus this week Syria s Information Ministry explained members of the country s shield forces were killed in two separate attacks while Britain-based war monitor The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights declared people in Sahnaya and the Druze-majority Damascus suburb of Jaramana were killed in clashes among them local gunmen and safety forces The clashes broke out around midnight Monday after an audio clip circulated on social media of a man criticizing Islam s Prophet Muhammad The audio was attributed to a Druze cleric But cleric Marwan Kiwan commented in a video posted on social media that he was not responsible for the audio which angered a great number of Sunni Muslims On Wednesday Druze men were killed in a highway ambush as they were heading to patronage armed groups south of Damascus against pro-government gunmen No group has at once claimed responsibility for the attack on the convoy This collective killing is systematic clear visible and documented Al-Hijri s comment read We no longer trust a group that calls itself a establishment because the regime doesn t kill its own people through extremist gangs that are loyal to it and after the massacre proposes they are loose forces On Wednesday afternoon the Syrian regime stated a deal was reached between Druze dignitaries and official representatives after which shield forces and pro-government gunmen entered Sahnaya and Druze gunmen withdrew from the streets Videos on social media proved what appear to be pro-government militias beating Druze men they had captured in Sahnaya and making offensive sectarian remarks The Druze religious sect is a minority group that began as a th-century offshoot of Ismailism a branch of Shiite Islam More than half of the roughly million Druze worldwide live in Syria Bulk of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel including in the Golan Heights which Israel captured from Syria in the Mideast War and annexed in In Syria they largely live in the southern Sweida province and a few suburbs of Damascus Syria s leadership former insurgents who toppled former President Bashar Assad in December has promised to protect minority groups but they re led by Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or HTS which has had affiliations in the past with the Sunni Muslim extremist al-Qaida group and is viewed by the minorities with suspicion Most of Druze spiritual leaders and factions have opted to air their grievances in closed communication with the new cabinet but concerns have heightened after a crackdown on Assad loyalists in Syria s coastal province turned into a series of targeted revenge attacks against the Alawite minority group Videos widely circulated of houses burned down and bloodied bodies of Alawites on the streets Tens of thousands of Alawites fled south to neighboring Lebanon and numerous are too scared to return The Druze have since become reluctant to lay down their arms which they say they need for protection Chehayeb released from Beirut Source