Al-Nusra Front Attacks Druze Villagers in Idlib Province

Press Release "Original in Arabic"

Syrian Coalition

June 11, 2015

As the Assad regime continues to kill more Syrians and rain more barrel bombs on rural Idlib, where dozens were killed, the Syrian people are deeply shocked by news of the death of dozens of Druze young men at the hands of elements of Al-Nusra Front in the village of Qalb Lawzeh of Mount Simmaq in rural Idlib. The killings occurred during an armed clash between elements of Al-Nusra Front and residents of the village following an attack launched by Al-Nusra.

While we emphasize our commitment to the unity of the Syrian people and the safety of all components of Syrian society, we strongly condemn all forms of infighting which is usually exploited by many sides and only serves the interests of the Assad regime and critics of the Syrian revolution. This incident will also be exploited to mislead the international public opinion through circulating false news about the incident, as with what happened in yesterday’s unfortunate incident when false reports of summary executions and rape were spread online.

Revolutionary forces operating in the area acted quickly to contain the situation and have contacted with concerned sides at home and abroad, thus foiling attempts to further fuel the situation. We cannot but commend the role played by some of these forces, for example, but not limited to, Ahrar al-Sham, Al Sham Corps and other rebel factions and the provincial council in coordination with the Syrian Coalition. These contacts succeeded in containing the situation and in preventing more bloodshed. We stress the need to maintain co-living and national unity that rises above sectarianism while struggling against injustice and oppression.

As part of these moves to contain the situation, President Khoja spoke with Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party in Lebanon, and also from leaders of the Druze community who all emphasize the Syrian national unity and the Arab Syrian Druze identity. The Syrian Coalition stresses its commitment to preserving the unity of the Syrian people and Syria’s demography, calling for protecting all components of the Syrian society and for ensuring they are not forced out of their homes. It also calls for achieving security in the areas of religious and ethnic minorities and for working out mechanisms to ward off all forms of strife and sedition.