Although much of the recent focus on Druze in Syria centres on the primarily Druze province of al-Suwayda’ in southern Syria, there is also an originally Druze community in the region of Jabal al-Summaq, located in the northern countryside of Idlib province near the border with Turkey.
The community outwardly declared conversion to Sunni Islam under compulsion first from Islamic State in 2013 and then Jabhat al-Nusra in 2015, but the outward conversion has not protected members of the community from multiple instances of kidnapping and murder over the years, with the most recent incident occurring in the area of the village of Kafr Maris where gunmen opened fire on a service taxi carrying local passengers, killing three people and wounding others.
In this guest post, long-standing contributor ‘Odoacer’ from the Jabal al-Summaq village of Qalb Lawze comments on the recent killings of villagers from Kafr Maris.
The new government’s security apparatus is investigating this case, but there is a broader problem of anti-Druze sentiment, espoused by Islamic State and other jihadists, that considers Druze to be legitimate targets for kidnapping and killing on the basis that they are ‘disbelievers’ and ‘apostates’ from Islam- sentiments amplified during the recent fighting in al-Suwayda’ and the accusations of treason levelled against Druze in al-Suwayda’. Incidents like these killings in Jabal al-Summaq also reinforce the rejectionist position of Druze in al-Suwayda’ towards the new government and its military and security forces, as they argue (with justification) that the government cannot protect them against abuses.
In this guest post, long-standing contributor ‘Odoacer’ from the Jabal al-Summaq village of Qalb Lawze comments on the recent killings of villagers from Kafr Maris. Per his estimate, around 100 people from Jabal al-Summaq have been kidnapped and killed since the beginning of the revolution against the regime.
An armed attack on the people of the Druze sect in Idlib
Such is the headline that was circulated on news channels- perhaps this is what some wish to be the case, or it was expected to happen, or what we feared has come to pass. Despite the atrocity that happened, the story must be recounted realistically before we should give the case a religious, political and social dimension, because of course the officials or those in power will condemn the incident and denounce it, and say it is an individual act etc. etc. etc.
The story began when this service taxi was in Kafr Takharim [a Sunni town], carrying 10 women with their children, a young man and a driver. The people on board had been shopping in the market in the afternoon, and they had been delayed until after sunset because of appointments with the dentist. At 9 p.m., the service taxi went out and at the periphery of the Jabal [Jabal al-Summaq], there was a tree. It was raining with thunder and lightning, and around this tree there were two unmasked men in their twenties, at a distance of 4 metres from the service taxi. One of them fired 14 bullets and the other fired 9 bullets towards the service taxi, the aim being to kill all inside (similar to what happened to the foreign tourists in Luxor, Egypt in 1997).
The driver was not wounded and continued at his pace towards his village of Kafr Maris, and when they arrived, they found that the young man called Ahmad Shaqiq Malham who was in his twenties and had recently returned from his work in Lebanon after the liberation, had died through a bullet wound to the head, and likewise Afifa Sha ‘ir al-Quda who was next to him and in her thirties had also died through a bullete wound to the head. There was also a third fatality. All the passengers were transferred to Armanaz hospital for operations, with one woman having been seriously hurt in her shoulders and abdomen. She is still in the hospital along with five other wounded.
One of them fired 14 bullets and the other fired 9 bullets towards the service taxi, the aim being to kill all inside (similar to what happened to the foreign tourists in Luxor, Egypt in 1997).
The Public Security apparatus and police arrived and opened an investigation into the matter. The fear is that the perpetrators won’t be identified, and this will be dangerous for the rest of the inhabitants of Jabal al-Summaq, who have previously suffered from harassment after the events of al-Suwayda’ and threats to kill them or displace them, despite the government’s promises to protected them, as promised by the highest authorities and the administrative and security apparatuses, with the deployment of checkpoints to protect them. But from whom? From their neighbours who fled to them when the regime began to bomb their villages.
Jabal al-Summaq received thousands of families and displaced people from all the regions of Syria, with its people offering them homes and shelters as far as possible. The notables and elders of all the villages in Jabal al-Summaq issued statements of supported for the revolution before its victory. Then they stood with the new state and opposed the positions of al-Hijri and aIsraeli intervention. They always had noble patriotic positions throughout the years of the revolution, despite the poverty and hardship they suffered in this Jabal.
Recently, the villages of Jabal al-Summaq were visited by Layth al-Balous and Sulayman Abd al-Baqi. From this Jabal, they declared that Syria consists of one people, but it seems that something was displeasing to certain elements, and they have begun playing with fire by mobilising cells of the Daesh [Islamic State] organisation, which carry out attacks similar to this (with women having been targeted) in order to serve foreign agendas.
The CCTV footage must be reviewed and the perpetrators must be identified, even if the matter requires cooperation with the global coalition whose drones have been in the sky of the region. They can be relied on to identify where the perpetrators went after they committed this barbaric crime.
The question here after 11 months since the victory of the revolution: why now? Why Jabal al-Summaq? Will we be going backwards? Will we be heading back to massacres like the Qalb Lawze massacre of 2015 committed on the basis of takfir and oppressive ideology?
The question here after 11 months since the victory of the revolution: why now? Why Jabal al-Summaq? Will we be going backwards?
Is the problem in Syria’s system of rule? Will it be democratic or Islamist? Or Islamic with a modern flavour? Is the problem in the society that has not yet matured in order to become a civilised people that accepts the other’s existence in the homeland?
Yes, all understand what the Sunni majority in Syria faced in terms of killing, displacement and dispersement, but their test in rule will be more difficult for them than their time in opposition to the Assad regime, especially since the new Syrian government led by al-Sharaa has no shortage of sophistication and enjoys great popular support in Syria, neighbouring states and (last but not least) great powers like America and Russia.
At this sensitive time, it is of utmost necessity to know who the perpetrators of this crime are and who was behind them, for the good of the inhabitants of Jabal al-Summaq, their neighbours and Syria and the world.
Published originally on October 24, 2025.
