The Albany Gazette - Syria Druze leader condemns 'genocidal campaign' against community

The unrest poses a serious challenge to the Islamist authorities who ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, and comes after a wave of massacres last month in Syria's Alawite coastal stronghold.

In a statement, Hijri denounced the violence in Jaramana and Sahnaya, near Damascus, as an "unjustifiable genocidal campaign" and called for immediate intervention by "international forces to maintain peace and prevent the continuation of these crimes."

His remarks follow fighting between Syrian security forces, allied fighters, and local Druze groups, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The Britain-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, said that the death toll from Jaramana and Sahnaya includes 30 members of the security forces, 15 fighters from the Druze minority and one civilian.

In the southern Suweyda province, 27 Druze gunmen were killed, 23 of them in an "ambush" on the Suweyda-Damascus road on Wednesday.

The fighters were killed in an attack "carried out by forces affiliated with the ministries of interior and defence and gunmen associated with them", the monitor told AFP.

- 'Protect all components' -

The violence was sparked by the circulation of an audio recording attributed to a Druze citizen and deemed blasphemous.

AFP was unable to confirm the recording's authenticity.

A truce agreement was reached on Wednesday in Jaramana and Sahnaya following meetings between Druze representatives and government officials.

Syrian authorities announced the deployment of their forces in Sahnaya to ensure security, accusing "outlaw groups" of instigating the clashes.

However, Hijri said he no longer trusts "an entity pretending to be a government... because the government does not kill its people through its extremist militias... and then claim they were unruly elements after the massacres".

"The government (should) protect its people," he added.

In March, security forces and allied groups killed more than 1,700 civilians, mostly Alawites, according to the Observatory.

It was the worst bloodshed since the December ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, who is from the minority community.

- External intervention -

Syria's new Islamist authorities, who have roots in the Al-Qaeda jihadist network, have vowed inclusive rule in the multi-confessional, multi-ethnic country, but must also contend with pressures from radical Islamists within their ranks.

In a statement on Wednesday, Syria's foreign ministry vowed to "protect all components" of society, including the Druze, and expressed its rejection of "foreign interference".

Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shaibani reiterated on Thursday his country's rejection of any demands for international intervention, saying on social media platform X that "national unity is the solid foundation for any process of stability or revival".

"Any call for external intervention, under any pretext or slogan, only leads to further deterioration and division," he added.

Israel, which sees Syria's new forces as jihadists carried out strikes on Syria on Wednesday, with its army saying troops were instructed to hit Syrian government targets "should the violence against Druze communities continue".

"A stern message was conveyed to the Syrian regime -- Israel expects them to act to prevent harm to the Druze community," said a statement from Netanyahu's office.

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Thursday called on the international community to "fulfill its role in protecting the minorities in Syria -- especially the Druze -- from the regime and its gangs of terror".

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites in Syria since Assad's downfall.

It has also sent troops into the demilitarised buffer zone of the Israeli-annexed Syrian Golan Heights and voiced support for Syria's Druze.

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt on Wednesday urged Syria's Druze to "reject Israeli interference".

Syria's top Muslim cleric Osama al-Rifai warned that "if strife ignites in our country... all of us will lose".

(O.Garcia--TAG)