Daijiworld Media Network – Syria

Syria, Jul 18: Days after intense fighting rocked the Druze-majority province of Sweida in southern Syria, a fragile ceasefire has brought a brief calm. However, for families returning to their neighborhoods, the horror continues—homes have been looted, bodies lie in the streets, and many are still searching for missing loved ones.

Among them is a Syrian Druze woman residing in the UAE who anxiously followed the violence back home through video calls with her parents and sister. As shelling rocked the area, her family took shelter in the basement. Her father ventured out during a lull and never came back. Hours later, her worst fears were confirmed—he had been shot dead by a sniper. “Now I only pray. That’s all I can do,” she shared in a distressed voice, requesting anonymity for fear of endangering her surviving relatives.

The violence, which erupted from retaliatory kidnappings and attacks between Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze militias, rapidly spiraled into chaos. Government troops deployed to restore order reportedly clashed not only with armed groups but also targeted civilians, resulting in widespread bloodshed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates over 600 people were killed in just four days, including more than 80 civilians, many of whom were allegedly executed in cold blood.

"The bodies tell the story—most are shot in the head," said Observatory head Rami Abdul-Rahman. Revenge attacks by Druze militias have reportedly forced many Bedouin families to flee, with visuals of trucks carrying belongings emerging on Syrian state media.

In the US, a Syrian-American Druze man described his anguish as he tracked down family members following the communication blackout. His own home had been shelled and looted, while his neighbors were killed or displaced. Most harrowing was a video he discovered—showing government soldiers executing several civilians in a public square in Sweida. Among the victims were a close family friend visiting from the US, his brother, father, uncles, and cousin. “They took them outside and just shot them,” he said, devastated.

Meanwhile, in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, 20-year-old Evelyn Azzam is desperately searching for her husband, 23-year-old Robert Kiwan. He was reportedly shot during a confrontation with soldiers while on his way to work in Sweida. Though she received news that he underwent surgery, his fate remains unknown.

Rights groups have expressed alarm over the emerging reports, likening the violence to earlier incidents in the Alawite regions following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Footage circulating on social media shows scenes of brutal carnage—bodies in living rooms, bullet-riddled walls, and smashed portraits of Druze leaders.

With over half of the global Druze population living in Syria, the latest unrest has deepened the community’s mistrust in the country’s interim government led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa. Many had hoped for change after the fall of Assad, but the recent bloodshed in Sweida has left them questioning the very future of peaceful coexistence in their homeland.

As the death toll mounts and mass graves are feared, the world watches a grieving community return home not to peace—but to silence, smoke, and sorrow.