Tribal and Bedouin fighters gathered in the northern part of the city of Sweida, in southern Syria, on July 19, 2025. (Credit: Bakr al-Kassem/AFP)
Less than a week before the first anniversary of Bashar al-Assad's downfall, the region of Sweida in southern Syria is experiencing renewed tensions amid deep mistrust of Damascus. The lifeless body of Druze sheikh Raed al-Mutni was dumped Tuesday outside the city's national hospital just days after his arrest on Friday by the men of Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri's "National Guard," the most radical voice within Syria's Druze community. Later that evening, the body of Sheikh Maher Falhout was also deposited outside the same hospital.'Security operations'According to a statement from the Guard, Mutni was about to participate in "security operations" in Sweida in coordination with Syrian authorities in exchange for "a sum of money." Read more on this With his ‘national guard,’ Hijri asserts...
Less than a week before the first anniversary of Bashar al-Assad's downfall, the region of Sweida in southern Syria is experiencing renewed tensions amid deep mistrust of Damascus. The lifeless body of Druze sheikh Raed al-Mutni was dumped Tuesday outside the city's national hospital just days after his arrest on Friday by the men of Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri's "National Guard," the most radical voice within Syria's Druze community. Later that evening, the body of Sheikh Maher Falhout was also deposited outside the same hospital.'Security operations'According to a statement from the Guard, Mutni was about to participate in "security operations" in Sweida in coordination with Syrian authorities in exchange for "a sum of money." Read more on this With his ‘national guard,’ Hijri...
