Syria Forms A Committee To Investigate Violence In Sweden

Syria/DOK PHOTO via X The White Helmets @SyriaCivivilDef

JAKARTA - Syria has pledged to investigate clashes in the southern province of Sweida that killed hundreds of people last month "the second major incident of sectarian violence since the overthrow of longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad."

In a decree dated July 31, Justice Minister Muzher al-Wais said a committee of seven people included judges, lawyers, and a military official.

Reported by Reuters on Friday, August 1, the committee will investigate the circumstances that caused the "event in Sweida" and report the results within three months.

The committee will investigate reports of attacks and violations against civilians and hand over anyone found to be involved in the attack to court.

The violence in Sweida began on July 13 between tribal fighters and the Druze faction.

Government forces were sent to defuse the fighting, but the bloodshed was getting worse, and Israel launched an attack on Syrian forces on behalf of Druze.

Druze is an Islamic minority that has followers in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.

The province of Sweida is dominated by Druze, but is also home to the Sunni tribes, and these communities have long experienced tensions over land and other resources.

The US-brokered ceasefire ended the raging fighting in the city of Sweida and its surrounding cities for nearly a week.

In March, hundreds of Alawi civilians died after troops allied with the government were deployed to Syrian coastal areas following a deadly attack on new government forces by militias still allied with Assad, originating from the Alawi minority.

Assad's brutal suppression of protests against him in 2011 from within the majority of Syria's Sunni turned into a war that lasted nearly 14 years. Western leaders want to ensure a new government, led by former Sunni Islamist groups rooted in global jihad, runs an orderly democratic transition.

The fact-finding committee that was formed after the March murder last month has handed over 298 people suspected of violating Alawi to court.