Syria’s Druze: minority caught between Islamist government and Israel

Syria’s small Druze community largely kept out of the country’s long civil war but since president Bashar al-Assad’s ouster in December it has found itself confronting the new Islamist-led government amid military intervention by Israel.

Here is a profile of the religious minority which has been caught up in deadly clashes with armed groups linked to the government in recent days.

– Secretive minority –

The Druze community accounted for around three percent of Syria’s pre-war population of 23…