A Syrian American man is among members of the Druze community killed in sectarian clashes in Syria

BEIRUT AP A Syrian-American man of the Druze religious minority was killed in southern Syria when he got caught up in sectarian clashes there last week while visiting family members relatives and bureaucrats announced Tuesday The U S State Department established the death of U S citizen Hossam Soraya in the city of Sweida and extended its condolences to his family His relatives and friends stated The Associated Press that Saraya in his mid- s from Oklahoma was killed in an attack last Wednesday The violence in Sweida provice where the city of Sweida is the provincial capital erupted earlier this month between the Druze society an offshoot of Shiite Islam and the local Sunni Bedouin tribes drawing in Syrian regime forces which effectively sided with the Bedouins Hundreds of people were killed both civilians and combatants before a ceasefire calmed the fighting only for clashes to restart days later The U N International Organization for Migration declared more than people were displaced during the fighting The fighting threatened Syria s fragile transition and underscored the difficulties the new governing body faces as it tries to consolidate control over the country months after Islamist-led insurgents ousted longtime autocrat Bashar Assad last December Neighboring Israel also intervened striking Syrian forces actions Israel commented was in defense of the Druze who are also a key minority in Israel A raid by gunmen in military uniform The clashes started as a series of tit-for-tat kidnappings between armed Bedouin clans and Druze militias Governing body forces intervened to stop the hostilities but effectively sided with the Bedouins On Wednesday Soraya was abducted with his brother Karim their father Ghassan and three other relatives from the family home by gunmen who later shot and killed them in a square in Sweida his friends and relatives announced speaking on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals The gunmen notified them they were regime forces and assured the women nothing would happen to their men as they took them away one of Soraya s friends reported The gunmen returned later and threatened the women and children before leaving without harming them but taking off with gold and other valuables from the house the friend disclosed They declared they believe governing body forces were behind the killings but did not elaborate The Syrian Defense Ministry says Tuesday it was exploring shocking and serious violations committed by an unknown group wearing military uniforms in Sweida without giving further details The ministry did not specifically mention Saraya s killing Oklahoma Sen James Lankford disclosed on Monday he was heartbroken over Saraya s killing We are praying for his family friends and the entire society as they grieve this senseless loss Lankford disclosed in a post on X formerly Twitter Fellow Oklahoma Sen Markwayne Mullin meanwhile revealed that he is working with partners in the region to learn more Trying to reach the family After new of the violence broke out Saraya s relatives in America could not get a hold of him and other male family members in the Druze-majority city They were recounted by remaining relatives in Sweida of the raid and that Saraya and the others were taken away by gunmen Then to their horror they recognized Hossam and the other men from the family in a video posted on social media showing gunmen in military uniform sprayed their relatives with automatic fire as tehy were kneeling on the asphalt in a Sweida roundabout Another video that surfaced later shows their relatives being marched off by at least armed men in military uniform chatting among themselves expressing happiness and posing for the camera A life in America Although Hossam had been living in the United States since he remained engaged in the region back home in Syria He and his brother co-founded an online school named after their family for Syrians abroad interested in completing their coaching with their native country s curriculum with millions scattered around the world after the almost -year civil war that erupted in and ended with Assad s ouster On the school s social media page Syrians and Oklahomans paid tribute to Hossam and his family after their deaths were reported More than half of the roughly million Druze worldwide live in Syria The others live in Lebanon and Israel including in the Golan Heights which Israel captured from Syria in the Mideast War and annexed in Majority Druze in Syria have supported a more diplomatic approach with the new leadership in Damascus but the clashes in Sweida have left various doubtful of a peaceful coexistence the new leaders in the post-Assad era Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri in New York contributed to this record Source