In late April, rumors spread in Syria about an audio recording allegedly insulting the Muslim Prophet Muhammed. Within days, extremists were attacking members of the Druze minority on a university campus and also targeting Druze neighborhoods and towns near Damascus. The clashes continued into early this month. This is the second serious round of sectarian clashes in Syria since the new government of Ahmed al-Shara’a came to power after the toppling of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024.

The first clashes of this type targeted members of the Alawite minority in the coastal region of Latakia in Syria. Those clashes took place in early March after reports emerged that former pro-regime militants had attacked members of the new security forces. Thirsting for revenge, numerous armed men converged on towns in Latakia and targeted Alawites. Alawites filled many of the senior leadership positions in the Assad regime. Consequently, many Syrians associate the whole community with the hated former dictator.

The attacks on the Druze, therefore, fit a familiar pattern. An ethnic or religious minority is singled out and accused of wrongdoing. Vigilantes mobilize across the country and seek to take the law into their own hands. The Syrian government, which has had trouble unifying a plethora of armed groups that came to power in........

© The National Interest