Members of Syria's Druze community are searching for loved ones and counting their dead after days of clashes in a southern province that left bloodied bodies of civilians on the streets and homes looted. The fighting in Sweida province this week began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed factions. Government forces that intervened to restore order clashed with the Druze militias, but also in some cases attacked civilians. One monitoring group said dozens of civilians were rounded up by fighters and shot and killed. The violence has left Druze more skeptical of Syria’s new leadership and doubtful of peaceful coexistence.
