BEIRUT: Clashes between forces affiliated with the Syrian Arab Republic’s new rulers and local gunmen from the minority Druze community killed one person and wounded nine near Damascus on Saturday, a monitor said.
Since Islamist-led rebels in December overthrew longtime repressive ruler Bashar Assad, clashes and shootings have occurred in several areas, with security officials accusing armed supporters of the previous government.
Saturday’s incident occurred in Jaramana, a densely populated suburb near Damascus that is home to a majority of Druze and Christian minority residents.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that “one person was killed and nine others from Jaramana were injured during clashes between security forces affiliated with the new authority and local gunmen tasked with protecting the area.”
It could not specify whether the killed person was a civilian or a local fighter.
Tensions began on Friday when a dispute led to the killing of one security forces member and the wounding of another in a shooting at a checkpoint in Jaramana, according to the Observatory.
Syria’s official news agency, SANA, quoted Col. Hossam Al-Tahhan, the local head of security, as saying the checkpoint had stopped Ministry of Defense personnel as they entered the area to visit their relatives.
After surrendering their weapons they were assaulted and “their vehicle was directly targeted by gunfire,” resulting in the casualties, Tahhan said.
He warned such incidents could have repercussions on “Syria’s security, stability, and unity.”
Jaramana’s Druze said in a statement that they would “withdraw protection from all offenders and outlaws” and pledged to hand over anyone proven responsible to “the relevant authorities to face justice.”
Restoring and maintaining security across Syria remains one of the most pressing challenges for interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, following about 13 years of civil war.
The Druze, who also live in Lebanon, Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, make up about three percent of Syria’s population.
They largely stayed on the sidelines of the civil war.
Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham Islamist group led the offensive against Assad. The group has its roots in Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate, and is proscribed as a terrorist organization by many governments including the United States.
HTS has moderated its rhetoric and vowed to protect Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities.
Israeli defense minister Israel Katz on Saturday warned Syria’s new rulers not “to harm the Druze,” adding the military has been ordered “to prepare and to send a firm and clear warning: if the regime harms the Druze, it will suffer the consequences.”
His comment came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last Sunday demanded “the complete demilitarization of southern Syria” including Sweida province where Druze Arabs predominate.
The same day Assad was ousted, Israel announced its troops were entering a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights.