Lethal clashes fueled by sectarian tensions erupted on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus, killing at the very least 12 individuals, Syrian officers and a warfare monitoring group mentioned on Tuesday.
The combating started in a single day from Monday to Tuesday within the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, which has a big inhabitants from the minority Druse sect. It got here after an audio clip circulated on social media of a person insulting the Prophet Muhammad. The clip was attributed to a Druse cleric.
The cleric and Druse non secular figures in Jaramana denied the accusation. The Syrian Inside Ministry mentioned that its preliminary findings confirmed that the cleric was not accountable and appealed for calm.
As public anger over the clip grew, unidentified fighters in armored autos amassed in a single day outdoors Jaramana and commenced shelling the town, setting off heavy gun battles, in line with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war-monitoring group primarily based in Britain.
It was the newest wave of sectarian violence to hit Syria since Islamist rebels overthrew the dictator Bashar al-Assad in December, stoking fears among the many nation’s many minority teams that these rebels — who now management the federal government and navy — will marginalize and even goal them.
The audio clip additionally set off demonstrations in quite a few different cities, with a few of the protesters inciting violence towards the Druse, in line with the Observatory.
The Observatory didn’t say who was behind the assault on Jaramana, which additionally wounded 15 individuals. However native Druse non secular authorities within the metropolis mentioned in a press release that they held the federal government “absolutely answerable for what occurred and any worsening of the state of affairs.”
The religious chief of the Syrian Druse group, Hikmat al-Hijri, accused Islamist extremists of being behind the assaults. Mr. al-Hijri is vocal critic of the nation’s new insurgent management.
As day broke on Tuesday, Syrian safety forces deployed on the outskirts of Jaramana and positioned a safety cordon across the space to forestall extra clashes, the inside ministry mentioned, including that members of the federal government’s safety forces have been among the many casualties within the clashes.
Syrian officers later met with Druse non secular figures and group leaders from Jaramana. They agreed to carry these concerned within the assault accountable, in line with Syria’s state information company, SANA.
It was not the primary time that the world had seen sectarian violence in current months. Deadly fighting broke out in Jaramana across the starting of March as nicely, when Druse fought gun battles with the brand new authorities’s safety forces.
Syria is a predominantly Sunni Muslim nation, whereas the Druse observe a secretive faith and don’t take into account themselves Muslims. The rebels who led the overthrow of Mr. al-Assad belonged to a Sunni Islamist group that was as soon as linked to Al Qaeda.
The nation’s new leaders have wrestled to combine the complex web of armed groups working throughout the nation into the brand new state equipment. A number of of the strongest Druse militias are in talks with the federal government about their circumstances for integrating into the brand new military.
Syria has already seen one severe wave of sectarian-driven killings. The incidents occurred final month in two coastal provinces which have giant populations of Alawites, the minority group that the Assad household belongs to. The realm as soon as shaped the heartland of Mr. al-Assad’s base of assist.
The violence started with Assad loyalists launching a coordinated assault on the brand new authorities’s forces within the coastal area. Hundreds of pro-government gunmen then stormed the 2 provinces and killed greater than 1,600 civilians, largely Alawites, inside just a few days, in line with the Observatory.
The violence underscored the issue Syria’s new leaders are going through in controlling the assorted armed teams and former rebels who’ve nominally joined the federal government.
“There’s real worry amongst residents and metropolis residents that the state of affairs might slide right into a harmful spiral, repeating the grim expertise of the coastal area,” mentioned Rabee Mounzer, a Druse group chief from Jaramana.
