U.S citizen killed in Syria sectarian violence alongside 6 Druze family members

NBC News

5 days ago

An American citizen from Oklahoma was killed along with six male relatives during the sectarian violence that erupted last week in Syria.
Syrian-American Hosam Saraya, 35, was visiting his family in Sweida in southern Syria from Oklahoma City, where he lived.
Last Wednesday, he and his family members were seized by armed men and gunned down in the street, according to a relative who spoke to NBC News on the condition of anonymity. NBC News could not independently verify who was responsible for the attack.
Video footage circulating online and verified by NBC News showed an execution-style shooting of Saraya and his family members.
In one video posted to Instagram, eight men are seen forced to walk in a line on a deserted street west of Tishreen Square in Sweida's city center by about half a dozen armed men in military-style fatigues.
In another video, the same men are kneeling before being gunned down by the armed men, as dozens of shots are fired over 15 seconds.
A graduate of Oklahoma Christian University and Damascus University, Saraya was a member of Syria's Druze religious minority and had founded a virtual school for Syrian children administered from Sweida.
'He loved to help his community… He's always been, you know, very ambitious and very kind,' his relative said.
The State Department on Monday confirmed that an American citizen had been killed in Syria but did not identify them or provide any further details.
'We offer condolences to the family on their loss and are providing consular assistance to them,' a spokesperson for the State Department said, adding, 'We are greatly concerned when any U.S. citizen is harmed overseas, wherever they are.'
The spokesperson said the U.S. had called for 'accountability in all cases where U.S. citizens are harmed abroad.'
Republican Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) said in a post on X Monday that he and his wife were "heartbroken" by Saraya's death.
"Hosam was an Oklahoman and member of the Druze community who was tragically executed alongside other members of his family in Syria," Lankford said.
Clashes first broke out between Syria's Druze minority and Bedouin tribal militias earlier this month, drawing interventions from government security forces and Israel. Hundreds were reportedly killed in the clashes.
The fighting came to a pause over the weekend after the Syrian government said it agreed to a fragile ceasefire with both sides.
As part of the U.S.-backed truce, the Syrian government on Monday began evacuating Bedouin families from the predominantly Druze city.
'Escalating hostilities can only be contained with an agreement to pause violence, protect the innocent, allow humanitarian access, and step back from danger,' Thomas Barrack, Special Envoy for Syria, said in a statement while announcing the deal.
Israeli airstrikes in Syria last week also caught President Donald Trump by surprise, White Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday.
Trump 'was caught off guard by the bombing in Syria and also the bombing of a Catholic Church in Gaza,' Leavitt said, adding, 'In both accounts, the president quickly called the prime minister to rectify those situations.'
The recent outbreak of violence risks reigniting sectarian tensions in the country nearly seven months after its longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was toppled.
The Druze and other minorities remain wary of Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander who met Trump in May after the president said he would lift sanctions on the war-torn country.
U.S. officials are now scrambling to contain the violence, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling on Damascus to prevent 'violent jihadists' from 'carrying out massacres.'
'They must hold accountable and bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks,' Rubio said in a statement Sunday.
More than 128,500 people have been displaced since the clashes began July 13, according to the United Nations' International Organization for Migration.
U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said in a statement last week that there were credible reports of widespread violations and abuses, including summary executions, arbitrary killings, kidnappings, destruction of private property and looting of homes by the Syrian government forces, as well as Druze and Bedouin fighters.