Syria Car Bomb Kills Key Anti-Regime Druze Cleric
A prominent Druze cleric known for criticizing Syria's regime and Islamist extremists was assassinated in a car bomb attack outside the southern city of Sweida Friday, a monitoring group said.
"Sheikh Wahid al-Balous was killed in a car bomb attack as he was driving on the outskirts of Sweida city," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Abdel Rahman said a second car bomb struck near the hospital in the Dahr al-Jabal neighborhood where the wounded were being taken, and that eight people were killed altogether.
Syria's official news agency SANA also said eight people had been killed and 22 wounded.
Sweida is the heartland of Syria's Druze minority, which made up around three percent of the country's pre-war population of 23 million.
"Balous was the leader of the Sheikhs of Dignity group, which aimed to protect the Druze areas in Syria," said Malek Abu Kheir, a journalist from Sweida who knew him.
The Sheikhs of Dignity the most powerful militia in the area and had fought fierce battles against the Islamic State jihadist group and al-Qaida's Syrian affiliate.
Balous opposed army conscripts from Sweida being sent outside the province, and often spoke out against both jihadist groups and the regime of President Bashar Assad, Abu Kheir told AFP.
Days before Balous' murder, Sweida residents had gathered in the city to demand more regular government services, including electricity and water.
Activists told AFP the protesters had the support of Balous.
- 'Pay the price with blood' -
The head of Lebanon's Druze community Walid Jumblat, in a condolence statement he posted on Twitter, accused the Assad government of killing Balous.
"My condolences to Sheikh Wahid al-Balous and his companions, who were assassinated by the regime of Bashar Assad," he said.
But the chief of Syria's Druze, Sheikh Youssef Jarboua, accused "the enemies of the nation and humanitarian state."
Syrian Information Minister Omran Zohbi said the "terrorism that struck Sweida wants to send a message to its people, that because they stood by their nation, they will pay the price of this stance with blood."
According to SANA, parliament condemned "the two terrorist explosions in Sweida."
"These cowardly terrorist acts will not discourage the Syrian people from continuing their fight against terrorism, but will instead strengthen their perseverance," the parliament statement said.
Neither Zohbi nor the parliamentary statement mentioned Balous.
The Druze community has been somewhat divided during the war, with some members fighting on the government side and others expressing sympathy for the opposition.
Thousands of Druze men have evaded military service in the army's dwindling ranks and have mostly taken up arms only in defense of their own areas.
In Sweida, Druze have formed a local militia to protect themselves from the rebels, residents say.
Source: Agence France Presse
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