Suwayda Massacre, Execution-Style Killings: What Post-Assad Syria Looks Like

When rebels toppled the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria ten months ago, the country's citizenry hoped for an end to decades of dictatorship and sectarian violence. The sweeping atrocities in Suwayda, though, paint a grim picture. Syria's new government, led by Ahmed al-Shara, is struggling to control armed factions and protect vulnerable communities.

Armed men have been caught on camera dragging civilians from their homes, calling them "pigs, dogs, and heretics" before killing them. Government soldiers executed a hospital volunteer, fighters marched civilians to firing squads, and religious leaders were held at gunpoint and assaulted, The New York Times reported.

It was the kind of chaos many feared when Assad was removed from power.

Al-Shara, a former jihadist fighter, had promised to protect Syria's religious minorities and rein in extremist elements in his coalition. He distanced himself from his past Al Qaeda ties and won support from the United States, Europe, and Gulf nations. They provided financial aid and sanctions relief.

Even when his forces killed hundreds of civilians from the Assad family's sect in March, many Syrians considered it a one-off revenge attack. Violence in Suwayda changed that perception.

It began as a feud between militias. As government troops arrived, they joined the rampage against civilians. About 2,000 combatants and civilians, most from the Druze minority, were killed, according to independent monitors.

Druze leaders are now calling for Suwayda to secede. Militias have barred government officials and troops from much of the province. Kurdish forces in the northeast have also slowed integration into the new government, and both regions abstained from parliamentary elections this month.

Videos and witness accounts verified by The NY Times show execution-style killings.

One video shows fighters forcing three members of a Druze family off a balcony. One gunman then shouts, "God is great!" Another shows 60-year-old Munir al-Rajma on school steps. Fighters ask if he is Druze. He replies, "Yes, brother, I am Druze." They then shoot him, with one yelling, "This is the fate of every dog like you, you pigs."

Nearly all victims were Druze civilians, though some of the men took up arms. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports Druze fighters killed at least three civilians and paraded government soldiers' bodies through the streets.

Syria's mix of Sunnis, Shiites, Christians, Druze, and Alawites has long fuelled sectarian tensions. The Assad regime claimed to protect minorities.

After Assad's fall, Ahmed al-Shara struggled to control armed groups. Sunni extremists intensified attacks on minorities. In March, at least 1,400 Alawites were killed. Two months later, over 100 Druze died near Damascus. In July, Suwayda erupted after Druze and Bedouin clashes, escalating as government troops deployed. Israel struck Syrian forces allegedly to protect the Druze, while Sunni fighters from eastern Syria also joined.