Syria Druze leader condemns 'genocidal campaign' against community

Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, leader of the Druze community in Syria.

Image Courtesy: North Press

Syria’s top Druze spiritual leader on Thursday denounced what he described as a “genocidal campaign” against his community, following several days of sectarian violence that left dozens dead near the capital.

In a sharply worded statement, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri called for “international forces to maintain peace and prevent the continuation of these crimes,” after fatal clashes in the towns of Jaramana and Sahnaya, southeast of Damascus.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 17 people were killed in Jaramana late Monday and 22 in Sahnaya the following night. On Wednesday, 15 Druze fighters died in what the monitor described as an ambush carried out by forces linked to Syria’s interior and defense ministries.

The Britain-based monitor, which relies on sources inside Syria, said the violence began after an audio recording deemed blasphemous and attributed to a Druze citizen spread online. AFP could not verify the authenticity of the recording.

A truce was reportedly reached Wednesday in both towns, following talks between Druze representatives and Syrian officials. Authorities deployed troops to Sahnaya and blamed “outlaw groups” for the unrest.

Hijri rejected those claims, accusing the state of enabling extremist militias and abandoning its role as protector. “The government does not kill its people through its extremist militias… and then claim they were unruly elements after the massacres,” he said. “The government should protect its people.”

The clashes add to rising sectarian tensions in Syria following the ouster of longtime president Bashar al-Assad in December. Assad was a member of the Alawite minority, and his removal has been followed by a wave of violence across the country, including the killing of more than 1,700 civilians, mostly Alawites, in March, according to the Observatory.

Syria’s foreign ministry on Wednesday pledged to “protect all components” of the population, including the Druze, and rejected any “foreign interference” in the country’s affairs.