At least 12 killed in militant attack on Druze suburb of Damascus

Strike on Jaramana followed fake video of leader accused of blasphemy

Syrian security troops in a street in the mostly Druze and Christian suburb of Jaramana, Damascus, after a deadly attack by armed groups from neighbouring areas. AFP

At least 12 people have been killed in a militant attack on a Druze suburb of Damascus, in Syria's latest outbreak of sectarian violence.

Fifteen others were injured in the attack on Tuesday, residents and members of the Druze religious minority said. It was the latest in a string of attacks on minority groups in Syria since former president Bashar Al Assad was ousted in December last year.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack on the Jaramana suburb, but it originated from surrounding districts controlled by pro-government militant brigades. The brigades are allied with Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, the rebel group once affiliated with Al Qaeda that led the overthrow of Mr Al Assad.

It came after a deepfake video was circulated on social media over the past two days that showed a Syrian Druze Sheikh, Marwan Kiwan, appearing to denounce the Prophet Mohammed.

Druze spiritual leaders and Muslims across the country warned that the video was an attempt to ignite sectarian strife. The Syrian Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that the voice in the video was not Sheikh Kiwan's and that it was working to determine who altered the video and would mete out “strict punishment”.

Ahmad Al Zuaiter, a prominent resident of Jaramana, said militants from nearby areas of Ghouta fired mortar rounds into the district overnight and tried to enter through a checkpoint known as Al Nassem that is manned by Druze members of the newly established police.

The dead included six Druze, mostly members of the police force, while the rest were attackers, Mr Al Zuaiter said.

Sheikh Hikmat Al Hijri, the piritual leader of Syria's Druze, said the attack was carried out by "takfiri, terrorist gangs", meaning militants who justify the killings of members of other sects because they are non-Muslims.

In a video statement, Sheikh Hijri criticised the new authorities for promising the people security but not providing it.

"The people have not yet obtained the fruits of victory" over the previous regime, he said. "Where is the security that we were promised, amid the continuation of sectarian provocation and without any accountability?"

A government delegation entered Jaramana and met local Druze leaders at a police station in the district, he said.

An Interior Ministry statement said the suburb had “witnessed intermittent clashes” and a security cordon has been placed around Jaramana to prevent “a repeat of similar incidents”.

It did not identify the combatants but said “elements of the security forces” were among an undisclosed number of dead and wounded.

At least three people were killed in early March when troops loyal to HTS made incursions into Jaramana, near the road to Damascus airport, prompting the Druze to bring in reinforcements from the sect's heartland in the southern governorate of Suweida.

Members of Syria's security forces stand guard in Damascus following sectarian clashes overnight. AFP

Sectarian violence has been mounting in Syria since an estimated 1,300 civilians from the Alawite minority were killed in the community's coastal heartland on May 8-9. At least 20 members of the sect were reportedly killed by gunmen in Homs over the past two days.

The attacks undermine attempts by the country's new President, HTS leader Ahmad Al Shara, to restore Syria's international legitimacy after about 14 years of civil war.

The Druze sect is an offshoot of Islam with about 800,000 members among Syria's population of 20 million in 2010, a year before the start of an anti-Assad uprising that began with peaceful protests.

Mr Al Hijri steered the community away from joining in Mr Al Assad's suppression of the protests, but supported a civil disobedience movement in Suweida against the former president's rule that began in August 2022 and continued until he was toppled.

The Alawite minority dominated Sunni-majority Syria during more than five decades of Assad family rule. The Sunni political ascendancy following Mr Al Assad's overthrow has changed Middle Eastern power dynamics to the disadvantage of Shiite-majority Iran and Russia, the main backers of the former regime.

Mr Al Hijri has criticised the new government as being led by “extremists” and has opened channels with Israel, in a quest for protection.

Over the past month, the government has recruited hundreds of Druze from Suweida, near Jordan, to its new security troops. Druze militias loyal to Mr Al Hijri have responded by raising their presence in the streets of Suweida, and patrolling the province's borders, residents say.

The Druze are one of the smallest of Syria's many minorities and have struggled for the preservation of their sect since arriving from Lebanon two centuries ago.