Armed men dragged civilians from their homes, calling them pigs, dogs and heretics before killing them. Government soldiers executed a volunteer at a hospital. Fighters marched civilians down the street to a firing squad. Religious leaders were held at gunpoint and assaulted. This was the exact chaos many Syrians had desperately feared.
When rebels deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad last year, many Syrians greeted their new rulers with a complex mix of apprehension and cautious hope.
The new government, led by former jihadist fighter Ahmed al-Shara, made sweeping promises to protect Syria’s numerous religious minorities and finally usher in peace after over a decade of brutal civil war.
Mr. al-Shara actively distanced himself from his jihadist past, including former ties to Al Qaeda, and vowed to control the extremist elements within his coalition who viewed Syria’s religious minorities—Christians, Druze, Alawites, and others—as heretics.
His assurances helped secure support from the United States, Europe, and the Gulf nations, which provided sanctions relief and financial aid to his government. Even when his forces and their armed supporters killed hundreds of civilians from the Assad family’s Alawite sect in March, many Syrians initially dismissed it as an isolated incident, a brutal but expected act of revenge against those associated with the former dictatorship.
Then, the killing spree began in the province of Sweida.
The **bloodshed** ignited over the summer with a conflict between rival militias. However, as thousands of government troops poured into the region, ostensibly to restore order, the situation spiraled into a brutal rampage against civilians instead.
Approximately 2,000 combatants and civilians, the vast majority from the Druze religious minority, were killed, according to an independent war monitor. This marked one of the deadliest outbreaks of sectarian violence since Syria’s new authorities came to power.
It also became a pivotal moment for the country. For many Syrians, the massacre in Sweida starkly revealed a pattern of government and pro-government forces systematically targeting and killing Syrian minorities, with minimal accountability.
Now, the outrage over these mass killings is threatening Mr. al-Shara’s authority over certain parts of the country.
The supreme Druze spiritual leader is openly advocating for Sweida to secede entirely from Syria. Since the massacre, Druze militias have effectively prevented government officials and the military from entering large portions of the province.
The repercussions have also spread to other areas of the country. Following the mass killings in Sweida, Kurdish minority forces in the northeast slowed negotiations regarding their integration into the new government. Neither region participated in the parliamentary elections that commenced this month.
To understand the events in Sweida, The New York Times conducted interviews with dozens of witnesses and analyzed hundreds of videos documenting the chaos, uncovering execution-style atrocities against civilians carried out by government forces and pro-government fighters.
The Times documented at least five distinct instances of men in military fatigues summarily executing Druze civilians, including groups of unarmed men marched down streets to their deaths by impromptu firing squads.
Government forces wore a variety of uniforms, and gunmen in civilian clothes often fought alongside them, sometimes making it challenging to definitively ascertain whether the fighters committing atrocities were official government security forces or other armed groups supporting Syria’s new leadership.
Visual: Syrian security forces were present in Sweida in July. (Credit: Karam Al-Masri/Reuters)
However, The Times verified that government security forces carried out at least one of the documented executions. In two other executions, witnesses reported that some of the fighters identified themselves as members of government security forces. Beyond these instances, government soldiers and their armed supporters frequently operated in coordination, and evidence demonstrated them committing a range of abuses against Druze civilians.
Many fighters recorded their atrocities, posting numerous ‘trophy videos’ that spread widely across social media, instilling terror among minorities throughout Syria.
One video, verified by The Times, depicts fighters in military fatigues forcing three members of a Druze family onto the balcony of an apartment building and compelling them to jump to their deaths.
One of the gunmen then looks over the balcony edge, raises his arm, and shouts, “God is great!”
Another video verified by The Times shows men in fatigues pointing rifles at Munir al-Rajma, an unarmed 60-year-old Druze man, as he sits on school steps. They demand to know if he is Druze. Mr. al-Rajma responds that he is Syrian.
“What do you mean by Syrian? Are you Muslim or Druze?” one fighter yells.
“Yes, brother, I am Druze,” he replies.
The men in fatigues then open fire, killing him. “This is the fate of every dog like you, you pigs,” one is heard saying.
(These videos are deeply disturbing, and the excerpts in this article have been edited to minimize graphic content.)
Video: Fighters filmed themselves killing Munir al-Rajma, a Druze man. The video has been edited to remove the moment of his execution.
Nearly all civilian casualties in the violence were Druze, according to independent monitors. However, Druze men also took up arms, committing some killings and atrocities in retaliation.
Druze fighters killed at least three civilians, as reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group. In one instance, they paraded what they claimed were the bodies of government soldiers through the streets.
Of the approximately 2,000 total fatalities, nearly 1,000 were Druze civilians, and at least five were Bedouin civilians, according to the Observatory.
The Syrian government has condemned the violence, promising to investigate reports of “shocking and serious violations committed by an unknown group wearing military uniforms in Sweida.”
Mr. al-Shara also pledged to hold perpetrators accountable, stating he would “bring every hand stained with the blood of innocents to justice” at the United Nations General Assembly in September. Government officials established a fact-finding committee in July to investigate the atrocities and have offered their cooperation to UN investigators conducting their own inquiry. The Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Defense did not respond to requests for comment regarding The Times’s investigation findings.
Despite the government’s assurances, fears among the Druze community persist, along with their calls for secession.
“The right to self-determination is a sacred right,” spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri declared last month. “We will not retreat from it—no matter the sacrifices.”
The Tension
For decades, sectarian tension has simmered and occasionally erupted with devastating consequences for Syria.
The country is a mosaic of ethnicities and religions, with a Sunni Muslim majority coexisting among Shiite Muslims, Christians, Druze, and the Alawite sect of the Assad family, which wielded immense power under dictatorial rule.
Throughout the Assads’ more than 50-year reign, their government exploited sectarian fears to maintain control, asserting that the Sunni majority despised all Syrian minorities. The government, with many Alawites in its highest ranks, presented itself as the sole protector of Syria’s minorities.
The civil war exacerbated these divisions, with some of the largely Sunni Muslim rebels adopting a jihadist ideology. Consequently, when Mr. al-Shara deposed the Assad regime late last year, a Sunni-led government took power for the first time in decades, leaving many Syrian minorities feeling extremely vulnerable.
Mr. al-Shara attempted to assuage these concerns, declaring a new Syria that would be safe for everyone. However, his government struggled to unify its diverse rebel factions into a cohesive national army. A new wave of Sunni Muslim nationalism began to emerge, empowering Sunni extremists nationwide.
Within a few short months, the situation erupted.
Government forces participated in a **rampage** on the Syrian coast in March, resulting in at least 1,400 deaths, mostly from the Assad family’s Alawite sect. This was the exact type of revenge-fueled violence many Syrians had feared with the fall of the dictatorship, and it intensified worries that the new government would be unable—or unwilling—to protect Syria’s minorities.
Visual: In March, emergency workers transformed a looted furniture store into a temporary morgue in the city of Baniyas. (Credit: David Guttenfelder/The New York Times)
The violence did not abate.
Two months later, another outbreak of sectarian violence near Damascus claimed over 100 lives, predominantly Druze, who practice an offshoot of Shia Islam.
Then, in mid-July, Sweida exploded.
The conflict originated as skirmishes between armed Bedouins, a largely Sunni Muslim group in Sweida, and Druze militias that have maintained de facto control over Sweida for years. These two groups have historically clashed over grazing, land, and water rights, with underlying sectarian tensions occasionally erupting into violence.
This particular series of clashes began when armed Bedouins attacked and robbed a Druze man along Sweida’s main highway. A subsequent exchange of attacks and kidnappings between Bedouin and Druze groups ensued**.
Soon after, the Syrian government deployed its security forces to Sweida, escalating the bloodshed.
Some Druze fighters engaged government troops, accusing them of siding with the Bedouins. Israel also intervened, launching airstrikes against Syrian government forces, ostensibly to protect the Druze. These Israeli attacks appeared to be part of a broader strategy to forge alliances with the Druze and prevent the entrenchment of Islamists in southern Syria.
Sunni fighters from eastern Syria also converged on Sweida, where they and Bedouin gunmen intermingled with government forces, sometimes operating in concert, as documented by videos verified by The Times.
As the gunfire intensified, Hazza al-Shatter, a 74-year-old Druze man, fled his rural Sweida home for his daughter’s apartment in the city, hoping to find refuge there, according to three relatives.
However, the following morning, gunmen stormed the apartment and forced Mr. al-Shatter, his two sons, and his son-in-law onto the street, as shown in a video verified by The Times.
Video: Armed men were seen punching and kicking members of the Shatter family before forcing them into the street.
The video shows the unarmed men being marched in a single file line amidst nearby gunfire. Mr. al-Shatter’s son-in-law leads, followed by his two sons, aged 28 and 43, both local school teachers. Mr. al-Shatter trails behind them.
One of the gunmen brutally kicks Mr. al-Shatter in the chest, pushing him against a wall, then slaps his face.
“Mustache, let me see your mustache,” another fighter screams, referring to his traditional Druze facial hair. Mr. al-Shatter stumbles forward.
The men are compelled to walk until they encounter a group of fighters in a mix of tan uniforms, traditional attire, and darker clothing. These fighters prepare their weapons and open fire on the Druze men. Another video verified by The Times shows their lifeless bodies strewn across the pavement.
Video: A Telegram video shows the bodies of the Shatter family members. The watermark identifies a channel that compiles news and videos from Syria.
The Times also discovered another video from Sweida featuring one of the fighters from the previous footage. In this subsequent video, he is seen decapitating a different man lying dead in the street.
The Hospital
Chaos rapidly engulfed the city.
At Sweida National Hospital, the morgue was overwhelmed, with bodies of civilians, fighters, and government forces spilling out into the courtyard, according to three medical workers and videos verified by The Times.
Visual: Victims of the clashes were seen outside Sweida National Hospital in July. (Credit: Fahd Kiwan/Associated Press)
By the second day of clashes, the hospital itself came under gunfire and shelling. Many medical staff, including volunteers who had arrived to assist the wounded, relocated from the emergency room to a CT scan room, seeking shelter further from windows and doors.
During a brief lull in the fighting, Muhammad Bahsas, a 22-year-old engineering student volunteering at the hospital, left the room to assess the situation outside, according to three of his colleagues.
He approached an entrance and saw government soldiers requesting his help for their injuries, his colleagues stated. With gunfire still echoing nearby, Mr. Bahsas expressed fear of crossing the road to assist them and returned inside.
It proved to be a fatal decision.
Shortly thereafter, a group of government soldiers stormed the hospital, as captured by the building’s security camera footage. The soldiers ordered the medical workers sheltering in the CT room to move to an entryway, according to the footage and testimonies from five medical workers and volunteers present.
“They started to say: ‘Come out, you pigs. Go on your knees. You Druze are pigs,’” recounted Tariq Surayidinn, a nurse who witnessed the event.
One soldier, with “Internal Security Forces” emblazoned on his uniform, then singled out Mr. Bahsas, according to the video and witnesses. The soldier yelled that this was the man who had earlier refused to treat him, witnesses said.
A soldier struck Mr. Bahsas on the head. Two others dragged him forward. Mr. Bahsas briefly grappled with one soldier by the neck but was kicked to the ground. As the soldiers retreated, Mr. Bahsas attempted to sit up, raising his hands in surrender.
One soldier then raises his rifle and shoots him, the video shows. Moments later, another discharges a handgun into him. The Times located and interviewed one of the soldiers present at the hospital during the killings, who confirmed that the individuals in the video were government forces.
Video: Surveillance footage captured government soldiers executing a hospital volunteer. Graphic scenes have been redacted. (Credit: Sweida National Hospital CCTV)
The remaining medical workers recounted watching in horror as a soldier dragged Mr. Bahsas’ body across the room, leaving a trail of blood. Another soldier pulled out his phone and began filming the group of medical workers, their hands raised in the air, the video shows.
Witnesses who spoke to The Times said that while filming, one soldier began asking if they needed anything and if they had been treated well—an apparent attempt to conceal their actions and solicit statements denying mistreatment by security forces.
“They were asking that, and Muhammad’s body was right there in front of us,” said Yazan Abu Hadir, one of the volunteers.
The Executions
Hordes of government and allied fighters roamed the streets of Sweida city, actively searching for Druze men, regardless of whether they were armed.
Moaz Arnous, a 23-year-old dental student, and his brother Bara, a 20-year-old electrical engineering student, had been sheltering with their cousin, Ousama Arnous, 26, in his apartment. However, by their second night, the intense fighting had reached their street, and Ousama doubted they would survive, his relatives reported.
“He called and said, ‘Maybe they will kill us; please take care of my mom,’” his brother-in-law, Hadi Neman, recounted.
The next morning, armed men in military fatigues entered the apartment building, identified themselves as government forces, and began ransacking it, a neighbor confirmed. A video verified by The Times shows them forcing the three Arnous men into a different unit in the building that, unlike the Arnous’ own apartment, lacked tall iron bars on the balcony.
The fighters then ordered the young men onto the balcony, commanding them to jump off.
Moaz steps onto the balcony first and starts to swing his leg over the metal railing. But then one of the gunmen shouts at him to wait, the video shows.
Video: A video depicts three men from the Arnous family being forced to jump off a balcony. The video has been shortened to exclude the moment the men fall to their deaths.
“Are you guys filming?” the gunman asks one of his fellow fighters. “Are you filming?”
When his comrade confirms he is recording with his phone, the chilling orders resume.
“Jump off,” the gunman yells. “Come on, jump off!”
Moaz is the first to climb over the railing and let go. Osama follows, dislodging a potted plant as he falls. Then Bara tumbles over the edge, amidst a barrage of gunfire.
The fall and gunfire resulted in the deaths of all three men, according to a relative, a neighbor, and a doctor at the hospital who examined their bodies.
Elsewhere in Sweida city, deadly home invasions were also rampant.
Members of the Saraya family were in their apartment building when armed men violently entered and demanded to know how many men were inside, according to Dima and Majda Saraya, the wives of two of the men.
“They went up the stairs shouting, ‘Surrender yourselves!’” Dima Saraya remembered. Her uncle told the fighters they were unarmed and asked for a guarantee of their safety if they surrendered.
After one of the fighters assured them of their safety, eight men from the apartment—seven from the Saraya family and a neighbor—emerged. The fighters then forced the men out of the building, a video verified by The Times shows.
One of the fighters returned to the apartment, identified himself as a member of the government’s security forces, and promised Dima and Majda that their relatives would be back soon, the two women recounted.
Videos verified by The Times reveal this promise to be tragically hollow.
In one video, the gunmen march the women’s loved ones down a sidewalk in a single-file line.
“Do you want us to guarantee your safety?” one of the fighters sarcastically asks, seemingly mocking their earlier plea.
The eight men are then led to Tishreen Square, a city roundabout, and forced to kneel in the dirt, according to another video verified by The Times.
Visual: A still from a video captures the eight men who were executed, kneeling on the ground.
Fighters then open fire on them, their bodies collapsing as plumes of dust rise into the air.
Yet another video verified by The Times shows two of the gunmen at the square speaking into a phone camera.
“There are no men left,” one fighter declares.
“Even if there are men, there are no real men left,” he adds.
Then, in English, he chillingly says: “Bye-bye.”
The Humiliation
Much of the violence was documented in videos filmed by the fighters themselves as they pursued unarmed Druze civilians to kill or assault them.
Some filmed themselves with scissors, explicitly threatening to go to Sweida to cut off the mustaches of Druze men, according to videos verified by The Times.
One man, identified as a rebel participant in the rapid advance against the Assad government through social media posts, is seen holding a pair of red-handled scissors aloft as he drives down a road.
“Where to?” his friend asks while filming him.
“A barbershop in Al Sweida,” the fighter replies, sarcastically. “Trying to earn some money this morning.”
Video: A Syrian fighter is filmed declaring his intent to cut off mustaches from Druze men.
In multiple instances, fighters are depicted holding down unarmed Druze men and forcibly cutting off their mustaches.
One video verified by The Times shows a group of fighters surrounding a Druze man on a motorcycle. One of the fighters, wearing a uniform of the new government’s General Security division within the Ministry of Interior, restrains the Druze man while another uses scissors on his mustache.
“Calm down, calm down, you pig!” one of the fighters screams.
“Best mustache cut yet,” another remarks.
“Cut more, cut more!” a third yells.
Another video features Druze sheikh Mohsen Hunaidi, lying in his bed at home in Al Majdal village, Sweida. At ninety-three years old and bedridden after a serious fall months prior, Mr. Hunaidi was unable to escape the village when fighting first erupted, his daughter Samar Hunaidi, 47, and another relative confirmed.
Ms. Hunaidi fled as the violence consumed Sweida, she said, but her brother, Adnan Hunaidi, remained to care for their father. However, after fighters reached the village, Adnan made the agonizing decision to also flee, leaving their father behind and locking the house door in hopes of deterring the fighters, Ms. Hunaidi recounted.
She incessantly checked her phone for updates from her brother. Then, she received a message from his WhatsApp number: a photo of Adnan lying on the ground, knee bent, hands near his face. The fighters had seemingly killed Adnan, taken his phone, and sent her the photo. Adnan’s son received a similar message with the chilling phrase: “He’s a carcass.”
Soon after receiving the message, Ms. Hunaidi saw a video on Facebook of her family’s home in al-Majdal. In the video, her father looks up at a man, attempting—in vain—to swat away his hand as he clips the old sheikh’s mustache with scissors.
“Your pigs have lost you!” the fighter shouts.
The fighters cut off his mustache and then abandoned him.
Several days passed before Druze fighters secured the village and transported Mr. Hunaidi to the hospital in Sweida. By then, he was frail and barely able to speak after days without food, water, or his essential medications, Ms. Hunaidi stated. He died within days.
“At first I was thinking: ‘Tell me how to do it, how to trust them,’” Ms. Hunaidi said, referring to Syria’s new government.
“Now, after all of this,” she concluded, “it’s impossible for me to trust or reconcile with them.”
Jamie Leventhal contributed video editing.