sectarian-clashes-in-syria-claim-100-lives-as-tensions-flare

Renewed sectarian violence in Syria has claimed the lives of at least 100 people over the past three days, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Thursday.

 

The Britain-based monitoring group, which gathers data through a network of sources inside Syria, said the fatalities included 30 members of the security forces, 15 Druze fighters and one civilian, all killed in clashes around the Jaramana and Sahnaya suburbs of Damascus.

 

Fighting has also spread to southern Suweyda province, where 27 Druze gunmen were reportedly killed—23 of them in what SOHR described as an "ambush" on the Suweyda-Damascus road on Wednesday.

 

The latest escalation follows the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December last year, after which interim leaders led by Mohammad Al-Sharaa took charge of the war-torn nation.

 

Media reports suggest that the clashes were triggered by the circulation of a viral audio note alleged to contain blasphemous remarks against the Prophet of Islam. The recording was purportedly attributed to a Druze man. However, Druze community leaders have strongly denied the claim and questioned the authenticity of the voice note.

 

Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, the Druze spiritual leader, on Thursday condemned what he described as a “genocidal campaign” targeting his people. “International forces must intervene to maintain peace and prevent the continuation of these crimes,” he urged in a statement.

 

Despite a truce reached on Wednesday in Jaramana and Sahnaya following negotiations between Druze representatives and government officials, sporadic violence continues to be reported from various areas.

 

The current unrest follows a spate of massacres on Syria’s coast in March, where, according to SOHR, more than 1,700 civilians—mostly Alawites—were killed by security forces and allied groups. It marked the deadliest violence since Assad's ouster.

 

Syria’s foreign ministry, in a statement issued on Wednesday, pledged to “protect all components” of its diverse society, including the Druze, while firmly rejecting any “foreign interference”.