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In Syria, the new government that has formed since the ouster of dictator Bashar al-Assad is working to disband local militias and create a national army. But that effort has run into some roadblocks. In the south, one heavily armed religious minority is distrustful of the new government. They're afraid of sectarian attacks, and they say they're keeping their weapons. From Sueda, Syria, NPR's Jane Araf tells us about this religious group, the Druze.
Doves cooing in cages hung from blackstone walls are the loudest sound at Ain Azaman, a Druze shrine in the city of Sueda. Women come and go, some bringing newborn babies for blessings. The Druze faith is an offshoot of Shia Islam, which has adopted features of other religions, including the belief in reincarnation. Druze make up less than 3% of Syria's population.
But they're a majority in Suwaida, Syria's southernmost province, which borders Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. In an overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim country,
Druze over the centuries have carved out a refuge around the volcanic mountains and fertile soil here. Druze militias secure the region. They say the forces of the new government formed after President Bashar al-Assad fled last December are not welcome here. In the village of Kanawat, Druze elders and visiting dignitaries crowd a reception hall, waiting to see the Druze spiritual leader, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri,
Hijri says they fear the Islamist militant group that overthrew the old regime. Armed terrorist factions now consider themselves in charge of the administration in Damascus. This is neither acceptable on the Syrian level nor internationally. Fundamentalist Sunni Muslim militants consider the Druze infidels. In 2015, a Sunni militant group killed dozens of Druze in Idlib province.
where most fighters supporting Syrian Prime Minister Ahmed al-Shara are from. Hijri, who is 75, says talks continue with Shara, but the Druze so far have not agreed to integrate their fighters into the national security forces. Shara has tried to assure minority groups they'll be safe in the new Syria. But in March, hundreds of Alawites, the Shia sect of the deposed prime minister, were killed by Sunni militants near Latakia.
Druze worried they would be next, evacuated to Sueda. Militia fighters welcomed them home. It's late at night and we're on the highway between Damascus and Sueda. There are all of these buses coming back and they're filled with students.
More than a thousand of them, Druze students from the Druze religious minority who have come back from the coast where there have been killings of the Alawite minority. Some of them danced in the aisles in celebration as they crossed Druze checkpoints to the relative safety of their home province. What were you studying? I'm studying factually of economics. I'm in the graduation year.
That's Amir al-Badish. He's 23, and he was supposed to graduate in a few months and help build this new Syria. Instead, the community has retreated to the Druze heartland, and their militias are preparing for battle.
We go to the home of Sheikh Yasser Abu Fakhr. His horse Wafa, loyalty, is tied up outside. He says his men of dignity movement has fighters in 100 villages on the mountains, armed with rifles, machine guns, rockets and mortars to fight government forces if they have to. Some of the weapons were seized from abandoned regime army bases in December. We are not afraid.
We're ready. We have weapons and we will not let them enter our mountains, he says. Abu Fakhr, like most militia commanders in Sueda, reject help from Israel, which has warned it will attack Syrian government forces if they threaten the Druze, who also have a presence in Israel. But there are other militias forming. Among the newest is the Sueda Military Council.
led by Tarek Ashufi, an officer who defected from the previous regime. We ask the free world, led by the United States, and we ask Israel to defend the entire Druze nation against any extremist attack, he says. At a village meeting, his hosts smash the coffee cup he's been drinking from, a local tradition to signify their respect. He asks the men to fight with him.
The response? Battle songs. Our swords are flashing like lightning. We will never accept humiliation, they chant. Jane Araf, NPR News, Sueda, Syria. That's the state of the world from NPR. Thanks for listening.
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