Members of Syria’s security forces detained over July’s mass killings of Druze in Sweida

Members of Syria’s security and military services have been detained as part of an investigation into sectarian violence in the southern province of Sweida in July that left hundreds of people dead, investigators say.

The head of a Syrian committee investigating the violence in Sweida holds a news conference in the capital, Damascus, to talk about progress made but does not release a death toll, saying this will come in the final report that is expected by the end of the year.

In mid-July, armed groups affiliated with Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri clashed with local Bedouin clans, spurring intervention by government forces who effectively sided with the Bedouins, which in turn prompted Israeli military intervention in favor of the Druze, a community that has a notable presence in Israel as well. Hundreds of civilians, mostly Druze, were killed, many by government fighters.

Judge Hatem Naasan, head of the investigative committee, says they have listened to people affected by the violence, including “witnesses and victims.”

“We have achieved positive results,” Naasan tells reporters in Damascus, adding that members of security services and the military “who were proven to have committed violations based on investigations of the committee and videos posted on social media platforms” have been detained. He does not say how many have been held, adding that after they were questioned they were referred to judicial authorities.

Naasan downplays suggestions that foreign fighters took part in the violence in Sweida. He says that some foreign fighters have been detained and questioned, adding they acted on their own by entering the city and none of them are members of the Syrian armed or security forces.

“What became clear to us is that some foreign fighters randomly and individually entered the city of Sweida,” Naasan says.

After the acts of violence in July, many in Sweida now want some form of autonomy in a federal system. A smaller group is calling for total partition.