Syrian Interior Ministry vows to investigate after video shows summary killing in Sweida hospital

The Syrian Interior Ministry launches an investigation following the emergence of footage showing members of the security forces killing and assaulting hospital workers in Sweida last month.

The Syrian Interior Ministry announces that it opened the probe after the publication of several videos from security cameras at a hospital in Sweida, southern Syria.

Local news outlet Suwayda 24 published yesterday what it said was surveillance footage from the main hospital in Sweida city on July 16, showing a group of people who appear to be staff crouched on the floor in a corridor. Several armed men are seen standing in front of the group, most wearing military garb and one dressed in an Interior Ministry uniform.

A brief scuffle breaks out with a man who Suwayda 24 identifies as “one of the volunteers with the medical team” at the hospital. The forces then shoot the man, whose body is dragged off, leaving a smear of blood.

A doctor at the hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirms to AFP that the video was taken inside the facility.

In its statement, the Interior Ministry says that it “condemns the incident at the hospital and will directly oversee the investigation to bring those involved to justice.”