The Druze sheikh Marhaj Chahine, humiliated (on the right) by an armed group, in the village of al-Thaala, near Sweida, in Syria. (Credit: Edited image taken from the social media of the Syrian outlet Suwayda24)
BEIRUT — Druze Sheikh Marhaj Chahine, 80, died following his public humiliation by an armed group amid ongoing clashes in Syria’s Sweida province, local outlet Suwayda24 reported on Wednesday. The cause of death was not disclosed.
The incident came as deadly clashes between Druze and Bedouin fighters entered their fourth day, escalating since July 13. In a widely circulated video published by the Syrian outlet Sabreen News between Tuesday and Wednesday, members of an armed group were seen forcibly shaving off the sheikh’s moustache and beard — a deeply humiliating act in Druze tradition.
Local sources cited by Suwayda24 said the sheikh, "who appeared with tears in his eyes in the shocking video, remained at home and did not leave after government forces stormed his village."
The same sources said the villages of al-Thaala and Walgha, on the western outskirts of Sweida, were "stormed by government forces" and witnessed "massacres inside certain homes," though they noted it was "currently difficult to determine the number of casualties."
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said Wednesday that at least 248 people have been killed in Sweida since the violence flared on Sunday.
