ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The people of the southern Druze-majority Suwayda province will demand federalism in the face of aggression and for allowing Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters to enter, a Druze commander said on Wednesday, after HTS-linked fighters were denied access to the province.
A military convoy of HTS-linked fighters was forced to turn back to Damascus by local Druze militias on Wednesday and denied access to Suwayda province, with the militias citing a lack of prior coordination and demanding decentralized governance.
“If we are subjected to any aggression or anything that is imposed on us as a province, we will demand federalism,” Sheikh Bahaa al-Jamal, commander of the Druze operations in Suwayda, told Rudaw’s Dilbixwin Dara.
“We found that the time was inappropriate, and people were busy with New Year celebrations. They entered by trickery and in a malicious way without informing anyone and we reject this matter,” he said about their decision to turn back the HTS-linked fighters.
On Wednesday, the Druze spiritual leader stressed that laying down their arms depends on guaranteeing their constitutional rights.
“We will not hand over our weapons until the state, constitution, and government are formed and the decentralized system is most appropriate for Syria,” Hikmat Salman al-Hijri told Rudaw.
But the new Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra, a top HTS commander, has expressed that they do not wish to have federalism in the country or to have any area outside the control of Damascus.
Suwayda is controlled by the the Druze Rijal al-Karama (Men of Dignity) militia which was established during the Syrian conflict to protect the minority group from the threat posed by Islamic State (ISIS) militants and the former Bashar al-Assad regime’s affiliated forces.
After the HTS-led coalition overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s regime, they formed a transitional government headed by Ahmad al-Sharaa (Abu Mohammed al-Jolani) who has repeatedly stated that the rights of all components will be protected under the new government.
