Al-Qaida Fighters in Syria Kill Dozens of Druze Villagers

At least 20 Druze villagers were killed by the Syrian al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra in northwestern Syria, in the deadliest attack on the minority group since Syria’s conflict began, the BBC reports.

Syrian opposition groups claim Jabhat al-Nusra gunned down over 20 Druze in the village of Qalb Lawzah, in northwestern Idlib province, after a Druze resident tried to stop a member of Jabhat al-Nusra from seizing a house.

The jihadists captured the village as part of a broad offensive that has seen Jabhat al-Nusra along with a coalition of rebel groups dislodge government forces from Idlib province.

The attack prompted fears for one of Syria’s minority groups as Sunni Islamists have consolidated ground against President Bashar al-Assad, raising concerns that the Druze, who have thus far largely stayed out of Syria’s conflict, would be drawn deeper into the war.

“The fast-moving events of recent days have thrown into sharp relief the mounting new challenges to President Bashar al-Assad during recent weeks of accelerating shifts on the battlefield, as well as fears over how the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria, the Nusra Front, treats civilians and minorities as it consolidates power and advances in new areas,” the New York Times reports.

The Druze faith is an offshoot of Islam considered heretical by the school of Sunni Islam backed by Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State.

Recent events also underscore the precarious nature of Jabhat al-Nusra’s alliance with other rebel groups, who have occasionally aligned forces with the common goal of ousting the regime.

Meanwhile, a coalition of moderate and Islamist rebel group launched an assault on the Thaala military base in the predominately Druze Sweida province in southern Syria, capturing parts of it from government forces.

“The insurgent offensive was led by the Southern Front, which includes elements that the United States deems sufficiently moderate to receive American aid through a covert CIA program, yet at the same time have often cooperated in battle with Nusra,” the New York Times reports. However, in a statement on Thursday afternoon, the Southern Front sought to reassure Sweida’s residents.

“We stress that the people of Sweida are our brothers and our people, and we … will not fight them.”

The statement also condemned “in the strongest terms” the deaths of the Druze residents in Idlib on Wednesday, AFP reports.

Turkey Allegedly Taking Measures to Curtail Flow of Syrian Refugees

Turkey said on Thursday it was taking measures to limit the flow of Syrian refugees into its territory after an influx of thousands of people over the past few days in response to clashes between Kurdish YPG forces and the Islamic State in the city of Tel Abyad, AFP reports.

Nearly 2,000 refugees were registered on Wednesday after an estimated 6,800 people were admitted to Turkey last week.

Turkey is currently the largest recipient of Syrian refugees in the region, with more than 1.8 million Syrians living there. Nearly 4 million refugees have already left Syria.

Deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus visited the Akcakale border crossing in southern Turkey, where the main influx of refugees has been concentrated.

“Turkey will not accept entries onto its territory from Syria except in case of a humanitarian tragedy,” he said, quoted by local media. The latest wave of refugees crossing into Turkey follows an offensive launched by Kurdish forces backed by U.S. coalition strikes against ISIS that saw the Kurds seize several villages either side of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State.

The Kurds have played a key role in fighting the Islamic State, with members of the YPG helping break the siege of the Syrian town of Kobani last September as U.S.-led coalition forces bombed ISIS’s positions.

The Kurds have sought to expand their territorial control over Syria’s northeastern corner stretching from Kobani to Qamishli.

In response to recent events, “Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan accused the West on Thursday of bombing Arabs and Turkmens in Syria while supporting Kurdish ‘terrorist’ groups he said were filling the void left behind,” Reuters writes.

Though a member of NATO and a U.S. ally, Turkey has not taken a larger role in the U.S. coalition against Islamic State, claiming that its priority is the ousting of President Assad and that it is apprehensive about recent territorial gains by the Kurdish YPG against the Islamic State inside Syria.

Turkey claims the YPG has links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.

“The West, which has shot Arabs and Turkmens, is unfortunately placing the PYD (the political wing of the YPG) and PKK in lieu of them,” Erdogan said in a speech.

Recommended Reads

• Reuters: Turkey’s Erdogan Says West Backing Kurdish ‘Terrorists’ in Syria
• Vanity Fair: Documenting Evil: Inside Assad’s Hospitals of Horror
• The Guardian: String of Losses in Syria Leaves Assad Regime Increasingly Precarious
• The Wall Street Journal: To U.S. Allies, al-Qaida Affiliate in Syria Becomes the Lesser Evil