The Japan Times - Druze leader slams 'genocidal campaign' against community in Syria

The violence poses a serious challenge to the Islamist authorities who ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December.

It comes after a wave of massacres in March in Syria's Alawite coastal stronghold in which security forces and allied groups killed more than 1,700 civilians, mostly Alawites, war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported at the time.

It was the worst bloodshed since the ouster of Assad, who is from the minority community.

Hijri in a statement on Thursday denounced the latest violence in Jaramana and Sahnaya near Damascus as an "unjustifiable genocidal campaign" against the Druze.

He called for immediate intervention by "international forces to maintain peace and prevent the continuation of these crimes".

His statement came after the Observatory reported the fighting between Syrian security forces, allied fighters and local Druze groups.

The Britain-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, said the death toll included 30 members of the security forces and fighters affiliated with the defence ministry, 21 fighters from the Druze minority and 10 civilians, including Sahnaya's former mayor, Husam Warwar.

In the southern province of Sweida, it said, 40 Druze gunmen were killed, 35 of them in an "ambush" on the Sweida-Damascus road on Wednesday.

The monitor told AFP the fighters were killed "by forces affiliated with the ministries of interior and defence and gunmen associated with them".

- 'Outlaws' blamed -

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 after meetings between Druze representatives and government officials.

Syrian authorities announced the deployment of their forces in Sahnaya to ensure security, and accused "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.

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.

On Wednesday, the foreign ministry in a statement vowed to "protect all components" of Syrian society, including the Druze, and expressed its rejection of "foreign interference".

- Israeli strikes -

Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani on Thursday reiterated Syria's rejection of 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 sees the new forces in the country as jihadists and carried out strikes near Damascus on Wednesday. Israel's military said its forces 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," a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.

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

Israel has attacked hundreds of military sites in Syria since Assad's downfall.

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

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

Y.Ishikawa--JT