Syrian forces deploy in Damascus suburbs after two days of clashes

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least 73 people were killed in two days of sectarian clashes in suburbs of Damascus and the south of the country.

Fighting between Druze and Sunni gunmen was sparked by a voice recording cursing the Prophet Mohammed, which Sunni militants claimed was made by a Druze.

The spiritual authority for the Druze community in Jaramana, where the fighting began, has condemned the recording, insisting it was fabricated to “sow division among the people of the same nation”.

The governor of the Damascus suburbs said a truce was reached on Wednesday between the two sides fighting in Jaramana and Ashrafiet Sahnaya, but that other people had died in an Israeli airstrike.

“There was a death from a security patrol and also a civilian in the town of Ashrafiet Sahnaya and there were a number of wounded on both sides, from security patrols and civilians,” said Amer al-Sheikh.

Israel claims the attack carried out in Sahnaya on what it called an “extremist group” was to protect the Druze population living in the town.

Without mentioning Israel, Damascus said in a statement on Wednesday that it rejected “all forms of foreign intervention” in the country’s internal affairs.

It reiterated its commitment to protect all groups within the country, including the Druze religious minority, which began as a 10th-century offshoot of Shiite Islam.

More than half of the roughly one million Druze worldwide live in Syria.

Meanwhile, the authorities said Syrian security forces have been deployed to both Jaramana and Ashrafiet Sahnaya.

Residents said the situation had largely calmed after intense fighting.

Ashrafiet Sahnaya resident, Mohammad Amayri, said the Druze, Sunni, Alawite, and Shiite groups within the country should all be united.

“Uncontrolled weapons by any party, from any side, must be in the hands of the state. We are required to have weapons in the hands of the state only,” he said.

Druze militias, prominent in the southwest of Syria, have an uneasy relationship with the current government, which is dominated by Sunni groups.

The new Islamist-led leadership called for all arms to fall under their authority, but Druze fighters have resisted, saying Damascus has failed to guarantee their protection from hostile militants.

This latest unrest comes as the Syrian government, in power since the December fall of President Bashar al-Assad, tries to assert its control over the whole country.