After deadly clashes in southern Syria, Euronews spoke exclusively to religious leaders and activists from the community about the origins of the Druze and the effects of recent violence. View on euro

Relatives and officials say a Syrian-American man of the Druze religious minority is among dozens of civilians killed in sectarian clashes in southern Syria.

A Syrian-American who was taking care of his ill father was among the eight Druze men kidnapped from their family home and “executed’ in the middle of the street, harrowing video shows.

Members of the Syrian American community in Portland are grieving the loss of loved ones following attacks in southern Syria.

A Syrian government investigation says more than 1,400 people died in sectarian violence along the coast earlier this year.

As violence broke out last week between two ethnic groups in southern Syria, both the Israeli and Syrian governments intervened.

When the Syrian civil war erupted in March 2011, Syrian Druze were targeted at times by both the Assad regime, which pressured them to support it, and by Islamist rebel groups that regarded them as infidels. The Druze straddled a fine line throughout the war, seeking, not always successfully, to be left on their own.

Dozens of Bedouin tribesmen marched to Al-Mazraa near Sweida on July 20, residents reported calm in city after days of violence. The armed tribesmen drove towards village which is 12 Km away from centre of Sweida.