Two Druze rebel groups say they’re ready to join new Syrian national army

DAMASCUS — Two rebel groups from Syria’s Druze minority say they’re ready to join a national army after Islamist-led opposition fighters toppled president Bashar al-Assad last month.

The new Syrian authorities face the mammoth challenge of rebuilding state institutions shaped by the Assad family’s repressive five-decade rule, including the army and security apparatuses that have all but collapsed.

“We, the Men of Dignity movement and the Mountain Brigade, the two largest military factions in Sweida, announce our full readiness to merge into a military body… under the umbrella of a new national army whose goal is to protect Syria,” the groups from south Syria’s Sweida province say in a joint statement.

They add, however, that they will categorically reject “any factional or sectarian army used as a tool in the hands of the authorities to suppress the people, as was the case with Bashar al-Assad’s army.”

The new leadership last month unveiled a plan to dissolve the myriad of armed groups operating in Syria and integrate them into the military.

The Druze, who also live in Lebanon and Israel, make up about three percent of Syria’s population, around 700,000 people.