UN says it has credible reports of summary executions during Syria fighting

Dozens of bodies recovered from homes and streets in Suweida city were brought to a local hospital on Thursday

The UN human rights chief says his office has received credible reports indicating widespread violations and abuses, including summary executions and arbitrary killings, during the recent violence in the southern city of Suweida.

Among the alleged perpetrators were members of the security forces and individuals affiliated with the interim government, as well as local Druze and Bedouin armed elements, Volker Türk said in a statement.

"This bloodshed and the violence must stop," he warned, adding that "those responsible must be held to account".

Almost 600 people are reported to have been killed since sectarian clashes between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes erupted in the province on Sunday.

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government responded by deploying its forces to the predominantly Druze city of Suweida for the first time since Islamist-led rebels overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December, ending 13 years of civil war.

However, the fighting escalated and government forces were accused by residents and activists of killing Druze civilians and carrying out extrajudicial executions.

A fragile truce appeared to be holding in Suweida on Friday, two days after the government announced that it had agreed the military would pull out and responsibility for security would be handed to religious elders and some local factions.

According to Türk, the UN human rights office has documented the unlawful killing of at least 13 people on 15 July, when "armed individuals affiliated with the interim authorities deliberately opened fire at a family gathering".

"On the same day, they reportedly summarily executed six men near their homes in two separate incidents," he said.

The office has also documented the public humiliation of a Druze men, including the forcible shaving of his moustache, which is an important cultural symbol for the Druze community.

"My office has received accounts of distressed Syrians who are living in fear for their lives and those of their loved ones," Türk said. "The deployment of state security forces should bring safety and protection, not add to the fear and violence."

The BBC has contacted the Syrian government and security forces about allegations of summarily killings and other violations.

In a televised address early on Thursday, Sharaa vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable and promised to make protecting the Druze a "priority".

"We are eager to hold accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people because they are under the protection and responsibility of the state," he said.

He went on to blame "outlaw groups", saying their leaders "rejected dialogue for many months".

He also said the government had agreed that the military would pull out of Suweida and responsibility for security would be handed to religious elders and some local factions.

State media have also cited authorities and tribes as accusing "outlaw groups" of carrying out "massacres" of Bedouin fighters and civilians and other violations.

The UN human rights chief said there must be "independent, prompt and transparent investigations into all violations, and those responsible must be held to account, in accordance with international standards".

"It is crucial that immediate steps are taken to prevent recurrence of such violence. Revenge and vengeance are not the answer," he added.

Türk raised concerns regarding reports of civilian casualties resulting from Israeli air strikes on Suweida, Daraa and in the centre of Damascus, where the defence ministry's headquarters and a site near the presidential palace were hit.

Israel said it carried out the strikes to stop government forces from attacking the Druze and to force the military to withdraw from Suweida province.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Thursday night that it had documented the killing of at least 594 people during the violence.

The UK-based monitoring group reported that 300 members of the Druze religious minority were killed, including 146 fighters and 154 civilians, 83 of whom were "summarily executed" by members of the interior and defence ministry's forces.

At least 257 government personnel and 18 Bedouin fighters were also killed, while three Bedouin civilians were summarily killed by Druze fighters, it added.