Syria’s new authorities have created a committee to investigate attacks on civilians amid violent sectarian clashes in Sweida province that claimed several lives last month, according to a report published by The Associated Press on Thursday. The unrest reportedly killed hundreds, uprooted tens of thousands, and put the country’s fragile postwar recovery at risk.
What Sparked the Clash
Reports suggest the violence began with retaliatory kidnappings as armed Bedouin clans, mostly Sunni, and Druze fighters — a Shiite offshoot — engaged in escalating conflict. When Syrian government forces intervened, they reportedly sided with the Bedouin clans, effectively fuelling the crisis.
Video footage circulating online showed Druze civilians publicly humiliated or killed, with sectarian slurs aired alongside. In turn, Druze factions launched retaliatory attacks on Bedouin villages.
Final Report Due in 3 Months
According to the state-run news agency SANA, the Justice Ministry said the committee will examine the “circumstances that led to the events in Sweida,” identify perpetrators, and refer them for prosecution, as reported by AP. A final report is expected to be presented within three months, the report said.
A similar fact-finding body was created in March after coastal sectarian violence reportedly killed hundreds of Alawite civilians — also a Shiite offshoot. The earlier committee report had concluded that there were “widespread, serious violations against civilians,” thereby implicating Syria’s security forces.
Past Findings & Ongoing Concerns
The coast committee identified over 1,400 casualties — mostly civilian — and had flagged 300 suspects allegedly involved in instances of murder, abduction, torture and looting. Those suspects, the report said, were then referred to justice officials, though the report didn’t disclose how many of them were from the new security forces.
That episode, analysts say, further eroded trust among Syria’s minority communities. The repeated sectarian violence has made minorities like the Druze and Alawites increasingly wary of President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s interim government, which is led by a former Islamist insurgent.
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