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Video Shows Killing of Medical Worker in Southern Syria Amid Sectarian Clashes
Security footage from a Sweida hospital shows armed men killing a medical worker amid ongoing sectarian clashes, intensifying tensions between Syria’s Druze community and the government.
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Security camera footage from a hospital in Sweida, southern Syria, published Sunday, appears to show the killing of a medical worker by armed men in military-style uniforms.
The video, released by activist media collective Suwayda 24 and dated July 16, was filmed during intense clashes between militias from the Druze minority, armed tribal groups, and Syrian government forces. The footage, widely shared on social media, shows a group of people in medical scrubs kneeling on the floor in front of armed men. One man is grabbed, struck on the head, and appears to resist by wrestling with an assailant before being shot once with an assault rifle and then a second time by another man using a pistol.
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A man wearing a dark jumpsuit labeled “Internal Security Forces” is seen directing the camouflaged gunmen into the hospital. Another camera view shows a tank positioned outside the facility. Activist media groups claim the gunmen were members of the Syrian military and security forces.
A Syrian government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said authorities could not immediately confirm the attackers’ identities and were investigating whether they were government personnel or members of tribal groups.
The Interior Ministry, via the state-run SANA news agency, announced that Deputy Minister of Interior for Security Affairs Maj. Gen. Abdul Qader Al-Tahhan was assigned to lead the investigation “to ensure that the perpetrators are identified and arrested as quickly as possible.” The ministry condemned the act, vowing that “the perpetrators will be held accountable and brought to justice… regardless of their affiliations.”
Last month, the Syrian government formed a committee to investigate attacks on civilians during sectarian violence in the south, with a report due within three months. The Sweida hospital incident has heightened tensions between the Druze community and the government, following July clashes between Druze groups and armed Bedouin factions that led to targeted sectarian attacks.
The violence has strained relations between the Druze and Syria’s Islamist-led interim government under President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who seeks to reassert control and disarm Druze factions. While fighting has subsided, government forces have surrounded Sweida, and Druze leaders allege that little aid is reaching the city, describing the situation as a siege.
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent reported Saturday that an aid convoy entering Sweida the previous day came under direct fire, damaging some vehicles. The organization did not specify which group was responsible.
On Sunday, the U.N. Security Council issued a statement expressing “deep concern” over the violence in southern Syria and condemning attacks on civilians in Sweida. It urged the Syrian government to ensure “credible, swift, transparent, impartial, and comprehensive investigations.” The Council reiterated the need to protect medical and humanitarian personnel, as well as hospitals and medical facilities, under international humanitarian law.
The statement also voiced concern about “foreign terrorist fighters” in Syria and called on all states to “refrain from any action or interference that may further destabilize the country,” a message apparently directed at Israel, which intervened in last month’s conflict on the side of the Druze by carrying out airstrikes on Syrian government forces.
