AS-SUWAYDA, Syria – (North Press)
The Akl Sheikhdom of the Druze Unitarian Community issued a statement calling on the Syrian government to assume its responsibilities in limiting the deterioration of the security situation amid repeated killings and kidnappings in the Druze-majority region of As-Suwayda on Tuesday.
The statement issued by the media office of Akl Sheikhdom demanded the Syrian government to play its role in the pursuit of criminals and put an end to the kidnapping and killing gangs that roam without accountability or control in the region.
Security chaos
Locals found the body of As-Suwayda resident Imad Suleiman Areej on Tuesday, dead from several stab wounds with a sharp object and dumped in an agricultural area between the towns of Skaka and Karak in the eastern Daraa countryside.
Areej's widow told North Press her husband was kidnapped on the 21st of May, just ten days before he was killed, on his way to the Syrian capital Damascus. She lost contact with him after his arrival at the southern entrance to Damascus.
Areej's brother told North Press Areej is a for a family of five who works on vehicle transporting vegetables and fruits from Damascus's al-Hal Market to the city center of As-Suwayda on a daily basis. According to him, Areej did not belong to any armed group in the region and had no enemies.
A forensic doctor at the As-Suwayda National Hospital who preferred to remain anonymous told North Press the victim was killed by blows from a sharp object in several spots on the head, killing him, after which his body was completely burned.
Resentment
Residents are increasingly dissatisfied with government neglect in the area, which witnessed two protest sit-ins last week by civil activists, human rights activists, and residents calling on the Syrian government to shoulder its responsibilities regarding the suffering of the people amid the deteriorating economic situation and the increased number of fires with the approach of the harvest season.
Frequent kidnapping
As-Suwayda recently witnessed the kidnapping and killing of a number of its residents in its countryside or in areas of Daraa, as the young Amr Murshid, a resident of al-Kufr town in the southeastern countryside of As-Suwayda, was kidnapped on the 21st of May.
Murshid's father told North Press his son left the house on the evening of Wednesday, May 21 to meet a friend in As-Suwayda. An hour later, he answered a call from his son’s mobile phone to hear his screaming and crying and then the sound of gunshots, and moments later the call was cut.
"So far, we have no information about where he is, whether he is still alive or killed," Murshid's father said.
Governmental absence
According to a field source from As-Suwayda, Sheikh Aql of the Druze community Youssef Jarbou said at the headquarters of the community, “The Syrian government is the one that must hold accountable the killers and outlaws, and it should not abandon its responsibilities, or we will be in a great chaos.”
Dozens of soldiers serving in the Syrian government forces, including volunteers and conscripts, gathered in front of As-Suwayda governorate building on the 30th of May to ask Syrian government forces to move into their governorate after the increase of killings by the armed groups which their comrades were subjected to in Daraa.