US 'Supported' Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda's Syria branch fighters in Syria 'massacre' Druze villagers. (Telegraph).
Al-Qaeda-linked rebels in Syria have been accused of killing at least 20 members of the minority Druze sect, raising new fears of religiously motivated killing in the country’s civil war.
The killings happened in the town of Qalb Lawzah, in the northwestern Idlib province, and were initially triggered by an argument over a house which Jabhat al-Nusra , Syria’s al-Qaeda affiliate, had tried to commandeer.
The incident marked the deadliest attack against the Druze community, which practises a 10th century offshoot of Shia Islam, and could add their names to the list of sectarian targets in the four-year conflict.
The Druze, who amounted to 5 per cent of the country’s prewar population, have so far largely stayed out of the conflict but the massacre, in Idlib province, and fighting in the Druze-held area of Sweida in the south have suddenly plunged the community into the battle-front.
In recent months, Islamist militants, who have recently made major gains in Idlib, have forced Druze residents, whom they consider to be heretics, to covert to Sunni Islam.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said several elderly residents and a child were among the victims of the killings. The jihadists had captured the village as part of a broad offensive that has seen rebel groups dislodge regime forces from the provincial capital.
“Nusra had already seized the abandoned houses for their men - nobody protested against that. But this owner said no so his relatives intervenes, beating one militant with a shovel,” a local resident called Jawad, who only gave his first name to The Daily Telegraph, said. “Then the jihadists opened fire.”
Abdul Majeed, a Druze civilian from a neighbouring village, said Nusra fighters used walkie-talkies to call for backup, shooting at passers-by and nearby houses. “None picked up a weapon or even thought of resisting,” he said.
The Telegraph was provided with the names of 23 victims, including one of Jawad’s relatives, who were buried by sunset on Wednesday.
“We refuse the oppression of any sect of the Syrian people,” said Ahmed Kara Ali, a spokesman for Ahrar al-Sham. “Those involved must be held accountable.”
In a rare interview last month, Mohamed al-Golani, al-Nusra’s leader said Syria’s Druze would not be targeted. However, his group has been open in calling for “apostates” to return to the Sunni fold.
Wednesday’s mass killing underscored the uneasy nature of the al-Nusra alliance with other rebel groups, including the Salafist Islamist Ahrar al-Sham. Hmmmm....How much longer will the 'love story' of the Obama 'Admin' and these Turkey and Qatari sponsored Jihadis go on? Read the full story here.
#Syria: Death toll from the massacre in #Druze village, Qalb_Louzeh rises to 50: Murdered in cold blood by #Nusra Front
— Ahmad Al-Issa (@ahmadalissa) June 11, 2015
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