Mayor of predominantly Druze Syrian town and son shot dead amid escalating sectarian violence
The mayor of the mostly Druze town of Sahnaya in the suburbs of Damascus and his son were shot dead by unknown assailants, hours after forces from the Syrian ministries of defence and the interior entered the area, local media has reported. Syrian authorities have opened an investigation into the killings, which happened after Hussam Wourour appeared in a video from the area discussing the escalating violence between the Druze community and the security forces, and calling for calm. Syrian Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat Al Hijri on Thursday condemned a "genocidal campaign" against his people and called for "international forces to maintain peace and prevent the continuation of these crimes". He spoke after three days of deadly sectarian clashes in Jaramana and Sahnaya, suburbs of the capital Damascus, as well as Suweida in south-west Syria, in which 101 people died, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor. In a statement, Mr Al Hijri said: "Seeking international protection is a legitimate right for people who have been wiped out by massacres.' He asked the international community not to turn a blind eye to what is happening to the community. "We do not need words, but actions," he said. "We are not advocates of secession, and we will not be," he said. "Rather, we advocate actual participation and the establishment of a democratic federal state that preserves our dignity, guarantees the freedom of the nation and the citizen, and maintains security.' Sectarian violence broke out between Syrian security forces, fighters aligned with them, and local Druze fighters. The death toll from the violence included members of the security forces, fighters from the Druze minority and civilians. There were nine field executions and 92 deaths during clashes and ambushes. In the southern Suweida province, 27 Druze gunmen were killed, 23 of them in an "ambush" on the Suweida-Damascus road on Wednesday, the UK-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, said. The fighters were killed in "an ambush carried out by forces affiliated with the ministries of interior and defence and gunmen allied with them," as a convoy of armed Druze men was heading from Suweida Governorate to the town of Sahnaya in the Damascus countryside, the Observatory reported. The violence was sparked by an audio recording which circulated on social media, allegedly of a Druze citizen and deemed blasphemous. The Syrian authorities later said the recording was fake. 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, Mr Al Hijri said: "We no longer trust 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." A Druze fighter in Ashrafiyet Sahnaya told The National this week that the community is "living in fear". "The state forces didn't intervene," he said. "We're isolated and left to defend ourselves. There have been dozens killed in the last days, it's the worst in Damascus since the war.' The sectarian violence has threatened to ignite broader unrest across Syria. It follows escalating tensions that began with a scuffle in Homs and then developed into a full-blown crisis for the HTS-led government of Ahmad Al Shara as he tries to restore order and project an image of unity and inclusion domestically and to the international community, following 14 gruelling years of civil war. Israel on Wednesday carried out a strike in Syria against what it called "an extremist group" that attacked members of the Druze community, following through on a promise to defend the minority group. A Syrian Foreign Ministry statement rejected "all forms of foreign intervention" in Syria's internal affairs, without mentioning Israel, and declared Syria's commitment to protecting all Syrian groups "including the noble Druze sect". It marks the first time Israel has announced a military strike in support of Syrian Druze since Bashar Al Assad was toppled, and reflects its deep mistrust of the new authorities. The last sectarian killings took place in Syria's coastal area in March, where the Observatory said security forces and allied groups killed more than 1,700 civilians, mostly Alawites. It was the worst bloodshed since the removal in December of Mr Al Assad, who is an Alawite. – With reporting from agencies
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