INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Suweida for the first time since Sunni Islamist-led rebels overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December.Minority groups including the
Druze - whose religion is an offshoot of Shia Islam with its own unique identity and beliefs - are suspicious of interim President Ahmed
al-Sharaa and his government, despite his pledges to protect them.Their fears have been heightened by several outbreaks of sectarian
violence over the past eight months, including one in May in which dozens of people were reportedly killed in clashes between Druze,
security forces, and allied Islamist fighters in Damascus and Suweida.In the wake of that fighting, the government reached an agreement with
Druze militias to hire local security forces in Suweida province from their ranks.Netanyahu has said he is committed to preventing harm to
the Druze in Syria because of their deep ties to those living in Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.Israeli Defence Minister
nearby entrance to the Syrian defence ministry in Umayyad Square, in central Damascus.Fadi Al Halabi, a London-based Syrian filmmaker who is
Everyone started running [in] the street
spread chaos, and undermine security and stability in Syria, constitutes a blatant violation of the United Nations Charter and international
humanitarian situation in Suweida city had rapidly deteriorated.It cited sources as saying there were clashes in several area of the city
and that tanks had attacked the national hospital, causing panic among the scores of casualties from the fighting being treated there
They also said there were acute shortages of water and medical supplies.Later, the Syrian health ministry said government forces had entered
One of the snipers shot him
since Sunday in Suweida province.They include 69 Druze fighters and 40 civilians, 27 of whom were summarily killed by interior ministry and
defence ministry forces, according to the group.At least 165 members of the government forces and 18 Bedouin tribal fighters have also been
killed in the clashes, while 10 members of government forces have been killed in Israeli strikes, it says.The BBC is not able to verify the
Druze merchant on the highway to Damascus last Friday.On Sunday, armed Druze fighters reportedly encircled and later seized a neighbourhood
HTS is a former al-Qaeda affiliate that is still designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN and UK, but no longer by the US.The
Assad regime.And it has sent troops into the UN-monitored demilitarised buffer zone between the occupied Golan Heights and Syria, as well as
