Syria Druze leader condemns ‘genocidal campaign’ against community

Syrian Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri on Thursday condemned what he described as a “genocidal campaign” against his community, following two days of deadly sectarian clashes that left 73 people dead.

The unrest poses a serious challenge to the Islamist authorities who ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, and comes after a wave of massacres last month in Syria’s Alawite coastal stronghold.

In a statement, Hijri denounced the violence in Jaramana and Sahnaya, near…