Syria starts probe on Sweida killings

Syria said on Tuesday that it had launched investigations into reported extrajudicial killings in the country’s Druze heartland, promising to punish perpetrators including any government-affiliated personnel after a week of sectarian bloodshed.

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The violence, which began on July 13 and ended with a weekend ceasefire, started with clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes but soon escalated, killing more than 1,300 people, mostly Druze, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.

Witnesses, Druze factions and the Observatory have accused government forces of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses including summary executions when they entered Sweida last week.

The interior ministry on Tuesday condemned “in the strongest terms the videos circulating showing field executions carried out by unidentified individuals in Sweida”.