Druza’s inhabitants describe the “bloodshed” in the Syrian city

For the past five days, Rhyme has said it has witnessed “barbaric” scenes.

Druz’s 45-year-old woman has lived in the southern Syrian city of Suwis throughout her life and has never thought that her once ghostly hometown will become a scene of bloodshed.

“There were bodies everywhere outside our building,” she told the BBC in a telephone interview, using a nickname for fear of her safety.

Rima said she had huddled inside her home, struck by the unimaginable, as the artilleryrs – government forces and foreign fighters – moved through their neighborhood earlier this week, going from door to door, looking for their next victim.

“One of the oldest feelings is to continue to wait for people to enter your house and decide whether we should live or die,” she recalls, her voice is still shaking with fear.

Violence left rhyme and her neighbors to feel abandoned and to be afraid in their own homes, as bullets and shells sounded outside.

The long -standing tension between the tribes of Druz and Bedouin in Subitida broke out in deadly sectarian clashes on Sunday, after the abduction of a druse merchant on the highway to the capital, Damascus.

As the battles spread to other parts of the southern province, the government of temporary President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who heads the overthrow of the Bashar Al-Assad regime by the rebels, led by Islamists in December, they would expand the forces of interior and defense to “restore the stability to” restore the stability to “restore the stability to” restore to “to” “to” “restore” to “” restore to “” to “restore” to “” restore to “” to “” restore “to.

After Assad’s fall, some local friend leaders rejected the presence of security forces in Suvida. When the government forces were located on Tuesday, the battles were escalated.

Soon the government’s forces were accused of attacking both Druza fighters and civilians, which prompted the Israeli military to intervene with a series of air strikes that are said to be intended to defend Druza.

As Rima was watching this game, the lack of the Internet and the strength made it difficult to maintain unfolding events. Everything she knew for sure was what he could see from his window: bodies and burned buildings were killed.

The Syrian state media also cited authorities and Bedouin tribes, saying that “out of law” and other crimes against Bedouin fighters and civilians were committed.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Based in the UK Monitoring said it had documented the murder of At least 594 people from SundayIncluding 154 civilian companies, 83 of which were killed by government forces, and three members of Bedouin tribes who were killed summarized by Druza fighters.

Nature, a man of Druze, whose name we have also changed, also encountered horrific scenes in Suwaida.

“We collect bodies from the streets. We found bodies left out of houses for two or three days,” he told the BBC in a telephone interview.

Although he is a civil servant, he is most distrustful of what he saw as the brutality of government forces within the city.

“They stormed the neighborhoods, choosing the houses that looked rich. They plundered these houses and then lit them. They sprayed unarmed civilians with bullets.”

Videos circulated on social media have appeared in support of Nayef’s claims.

Facebook shots on Wednesday afternoon show at least half a dozen men dressed in camouflage, shooting live in a group of residents kneeling on the sidewalk.

The UN Human Rights Service said it had documented the murder of at least 13 people on Tuesday by armed men related to the government, which intentionally opened a family gathering fire. On the same day, they were reported that six men were briefly completed near their homes.

While the bullets and shells were raining, the residents of Suwis were left to wonder when the aid was coming.

But he never came.

Rima said she was watching the security forces and foreign fighters enter her neighborhood and later shot her neighbor in front of his mother.

“Is this the army and security forces that had to come and protect us?” she asked. “People’s livelihoods were stolen. The killed were young and unarmed.”

Other testimony we heard we supported Rhyme’s claim. Those we talked to said that most of the fighters who entered the Subitida and attacked civilians seemed to be Islamists.

A woman heard the fighters screaming “Allahu Akbar” (God is the greatest) in her building, calling Druza “unbelievers” and “pigs” and said they were there to kill them.

Some of these fighters have posted videos of themselves online humiliating men in Subitida, including cutting or shaving by the mustache of Druzi Sheikhs. The mustache is a symbol of the religious identity of Druza.

The BBC has addressed the Syrian government for official comments on the matter, but has not received an answer so far.

In a television address at the beginning of Thursday, Sharaa promised to hold the perpetrators responsible and promised to make the protection of Druza Priority.

“We are eager to carry responsible those who have transgressed and abused our people Druze because they are under the protection and responsibility of the state,” he said.

He continued to blame the “outlawed”, saying that their leaders “rejected the dialogue for many months.”

For many, the promise of defense felt like a deja wo.

This was like the message that the president presented when government forces and allied Islamist fighters performed deadly repression against civilians from another religious minority, Alavites, in response to attacks by ASAD loyalists in the coastal region in March.

A committee has been set up to investigate these violations – but it will still provide any findings.

NayEF and others accounts carry many similarities to what happened on the shore in March.

“There is a complete lack of trust with the government,” Naeff said. “They just do lip service. They say nice things about freedoms, documenting violations and accountability, but they are all lies.”

Many residents of Suwis say that this last episode of sectarian violence will have long -lasting effects.

“If it wasn’t for Israel’s bombing, today we wouldn’t be able to talk to you,” a woman told the BBC.

However, some were critical of Israel’s air strikes and his claim that he was acting to protect Druza.

Most said, “Nobody wants Israel. We are patriotic people. We were at the forefront of people to accept patriotism. Our loyalty and patriotism should not doubt.”

Additional reporting by Samantha Granville in Beirut