Damascus, Syria (AP) – footage of security cameras at a hospital in Southern Syria, published on Sunday, have shown that it seems to be the murder of a medical professional from men in a military garment.
The video, published by an Activist Suwayda 24 media team, was dated to July 16, during intensive clashes between minority militias in Druza and armed tribal groups and government forces.
In the video, which was also widely shared on social media, a large group of people in scrubs can see knees on the floor in front of a group of armed men. Armed men catch a man and hit him on the head as if they would hold him. The man tries to resist by fighting one of the artillerymen before being shot once with a storm rifle and then a second time by another man with a gun.
A man in a dark overalls with “internal security forces” written on him seems to lead men in camouflage at the hospital.
Another security camera shows a tank outside the facility.
Activist media groups say the gunners were from the Syrian military and security forces.
A Syrian government official said they could not immediately identify the attackers in the video and investigated the incident to try to find out if they were related to the government staff or artillerymen from tribal groups.
He speaks on condition of anonymity as he was not released immediately to speak with the media about the matter.
Syria’s Interior Ministry in a statement published by SANA State Information Agency, said Deputy Minister of Interior for Security Major General Abdul Kader Al Tahhan to control the investigation “to ensure that the perpetrators were identified and arrested as quickly as possible.”
“We condemn and deny this act in the strongest conditions and confirm that the perpetrators will be liable and will be brought to court to receive their fair punishment, regardless of their accessories,” the statement said.
Last month, the government set up a committee tasked with investigating attacks on civilians during sectarian violence to the south of the country, which should issue a report within three months.
The incident at the Swid National Hospital further exacerbated the tensions between the minority community in Druz and the Syrian government, after they were confronted between Druz and armed Bedouin groups in July, sparked directed sectarian attacks against them.
Violence has worsened the links between them and the government temporarily led by the Islamist government of Syria with President Ahmad al -Sharaa, who hopes to defend full state control and disarmed Drui’s factions.
Although the fighting is largely calming down, the government forces have surrounded the southern city and Druza said that small help enters the battered city, calling it a siege.
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent, who organized convoys for assistance in the Swida, said in a statement on Saturday that one of those convoys carrying assistance on the day before “fell under a direct fire” and some of its vehicles were damaged. This did not specify which group attacked the convoy.
On Sunday, the UN Security Council adopted a statement expressed the “deep concern” of violence in southern Syria and condemned violence against civilians in the soup. He calls on the government to “provide credible, fast, transparent, impartial and comprehensive investigations.”
The statement also repeats “obligations in international humanitarian law to respect and protect all medical staff and humanitarian staff, extremely engaged in medical obligations, their means of transport and equipment, as well as in hospitals and medical facilities.”
He expressed concern about the “foreign terrorist fighters” in Syria, while calling on “all countries to refrain from any actions or intervention that can further destabilize the country”, an apparent message to Israel, which has intervened in the conflict last month by the druza.
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Chehayeb reports from Beirut. The writer of the Associated Press Edith M. Lederer of the United Nations has contributed to this report.