Gunmen kill two on coach in Syrian Druze-majority province

Gunmen killed at least two people when they opened fire on a coach along the road between Damascus and Druze-majority Sweida in southern Syria on Tuesday, state media reported, months after deadly sectarian clashes in the area. (AFP/File)

• Local outlet Sweida 24 identified the victims as a woman and a young man.
• The outlet said that the coach was on its way back from Damascus, “within the area where General Security checkpoints are deployed“

DAMASCUS: Gunmen killed at least two people when they opened fire on a coach along the road between Damascus and Druze-majority Sweida in southern Syria on Tuesday, state media reported, months after deadly sectarian clashes in the area.
State news agency SANA reported that “a passenger coach... on the Damascus-Sweida road was fired upon by unidentified gunmen, killing two people and wounding others.”
Local outlet Sweida 24 identified the victims as a woman and a young man.
The outlet said that the coach was on its way back from Damascus, “within the area where General Security checkpoints are deployed.”
Sweida province witnessed a week of bloodshed that began on July 13 with clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin but rapidly escalated, drawing in government forces, armed groups from other parts of Syria and Israeli intervention.
Syrian security forces have been deployed in and around Sweida province since a ceasefire ended the clashes, while Druze factions remained in control of the city of the same name.
A monitor alleged that all the coach passengers were reportedly Druze.
In September, the Syrian government announced a plan backed by Jordan and the United States to restore calm and to hold “those who attacked civilians” accountable, but the situation remains unstable.