Syrian safety forces had been deployed throughout a predominately Druse city on the outskirts of Damascus, the capital, early Sunday, two days after a gunfight between authorities officers and armed males from a neighborhood neighborhood left one individual lifeless and several other others wounded.
A tense calm has returned to the city, Jaramana, after the lethal conflict Friday evening between the safety forces of Syria’s new authorities and the Druse, a non secular minority. The individual killed was a safety officer, in response to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which added that 9 different folks had been wounded.
Druse religious leaders blamed the killing on “an undisciplined mob that doesn’t belong to our customs, nor to our identified monotheistic traditions or customs.”
There have been conflicting experiences about how the episode unfolded in Jaramana, however the conflict was thrust into the worldwide highlight on Saturday when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel mentioned he had instructed the navy “to arrange and ship a robust and clear warning message: If the regime harms the Druse — it will likely be harmed by us.”
The Druse are a non secular minority with populations in Syria, together with the Golan Heights territory, which Israel captured and illegally annexed, and in Lebanon and Israel.
Syrian Druse and authorities leaders swiftly and strongly rejected any threats of intervention by Israel.
“We’re Syrian Arab nationals, and we await a response from the administration and authorities,” mentioned Rabih Munthir, a Druse chief in Jaramana. “We’re not asking for cover from anybody, and we received’t ask for cover from anybody. We’re residents who’ve been dwelling on this land for greater than 1,000 years.”
A Syrian safety official, Lt. Col. Hossam al-Tahan, the chief of the safety directorate within the Damascus suburbs, mentioned Saturday that it was working with native leaders to trace down all who had been concerned within the taking pictures.
“We affirm that no entity can be allowed to undermine Syria’s unity,” he mentioned, in response to the Syrian state media. “Our solely situation is with those that carried out the assault and assault, and we urge rational minds to acknowledge that this path threatens Syria’s safety, stability and unity.”
Simply days after Syrian rebels ousted President Bashar al-Assad in early December, Israel carried out numerous incursions in Syria, raiding villages, launching a whole lot of airstrikes, destroying navy outposts and threatening residents. Israel has described the incursions as non permanent measures to guard its personal safety, however they’ve gone on for 3 months and have raised fears amongst Syrians of a chronic navy occupation.
Israel’s assaults on Syria have been condemned internationally, and in January the United Nations said that “Syria’s sovereignty, territorial unity, and integrity should be absolutely restored.”
Since Mr. al-Assad and his authorities had been ousted by the insurgent coalition, its chief, Ahmed al-Shara, who was appointed interim president final month, has sought to allay considerations that his Sunni Islamist group would goal spiritual minorities.
He has spoken recurrently of the necessity to unite Syria’s many non secular and ethnic minorities to construct a brand new Syria after greater than 13 years of a brutal civil battle.
Final week, the nation held its first nationwide dialogue which included representatives from Syria’s many sects, together with Sunnis, Alawites, Druse, Christians and Kurds.
Reham Mourshed and Myra Noveck contributed reporting.
