The outbreak of violence in southern Syria's Druze-majority Suweida province has caused alarm in recent days. Syrian government forces have been accused of carrying out a massacre at a hospital during sectarian clashes which erupted just over a week ago. The BBC has visited Suweida's National Hospital, where staff claim patients were killed inside wards.
Warning: This story contains descriptions of violence. The stench hit me before anything else. In the car park of the main hospital...
Some are open to the elements, revealing bloated and mutilated remains of those who were killed here. The tarmac beneath my feet is greasy and slippery with blood. In the sweltering sun, the smell is overwhelming.
"It was a massacre," Dr. Wissam Massoud, a neurosurgeon at the hospital, tells me. "The soldiers came here saying they wanted to bring peace, but they killed scores of patients, from the very young to the very old."
Earlier this week, Dr. Massoud sent me a video which he said was in the immediate aftermath of the government raid. In it, a woman shows you around the hospital. On the ground in the wards are dozens of dead patients still bundled up in their bloodied bed sheets.
Hospital volunteer Kiness Abu Motab said the victims were killed because they were in a minority group. Everyone here, doctors, nurses, volunteers say the same thing: Last Wednesday evening, it was Syrian government troops targeting the Druze religious community who came to the hospital and carried out the killings.
Kiness Abu Motab, a volunteer at the hospital, said of the victims: "What is their crime? Just for being a minority in a democratic country?"
"They are criminals. They are monsters. We don't trust them at all," Osama Malak, an English teacher in the city told me outside the hospital gates. "They shot an eight-year-old disabled boy in the head," he said. "According to international law, hospitals should be protected. But they attacked us even in the hospitals."
"They entered the hospital. They started shooting everybody. They shot the patients in their beds as they slept."
All sides in this conflict have been accusing each other of committing atrocities. Both Bedouin and Druze fighters as well as the Syrian army have been accused of killing civilians and extrajudicial killings. There is not yet a clear picture of what happened at the hospital. Some here estimate the number of people killed last Wednesday to be more than 300, but that figure cannot be verified.
On Tuesday night, the Syrian defense ministry said in a statement that it was aware of reports of "shocking violations" by people in military fatigues in the country's predominantly Druze city of Suweida. Earlier this week, Raed Saleh, the Syrian Minister for Disaster Management and Emergency Response, told me that any allegations of atrocities committed by all sides would be fully investigated.
Access to Suweida city has been heavily restricted, making it challenging to gather firsthand evidence. The city is effectively under siege, with Syrian government forces imposing restrictions on movement. To gain access, we had to navigate through numerous checkpoints.
As we entered the city, we passed burned-out shops and buildings, and cars that had been crushed by tanks. Suweida city had clearly been the site of serious battles between Druze and Bedouin fighters. It was at that point that the Syrian government first intervened to try and enforce a ceasefire.
Although many Druze villages in the Suweida province have been recaptured by government forces, the city, which is home to over 70,000 people, remains under full Druze control.
Before we left the hospital, we found eight-year-old Hala al-Khatib sitting on a bench with her aunt. Hala's face is bloodied and bandaged. She appears to have lost an eye. She tells us that gunmen came and shot her in the head while she was hiding in a cupboard in her home. Hala doesn't know it yet, but both her parents are dead.
'There were bodies everywhere': Druze residents describe 'bloodbath' in Syrian city Suweida. UN says it has credible reports of summary executions during Syria fighting.
Warning: This story contains descriptions of violence. The stench hit me before anything else. In the car park of the main hospital...
Some are open to the elements, revealing bloated and mutilated remains of those who were killed here. The tarmac beneath my feet is greasy and slippery with blood. In the sweltering sun, the smell is overwhelming.
"It was a massacre," Dr. Wissam Massoud, a neurosurgeon at the hospital, tells me. "The soldiers came here saying they wanted to bring peace, but they killed scores of patients, from the very young to the very old."
Earlier this week, Dr. Massoud sent me a video which he said was in the immediate aftermath of the government raid. In it, a woman shows you around the hospital. On the ground in the wards are dozens of dead patients still bundled up in their bloodied bed sheets.
Hospital volunteer Kiness Abu Motab said the victims were killed because they were in a minority group. Everyone here, doctors, nurses, volunteers say the same thing: Last Wednesday evening, it was Syrian government troops targeting the Druze religious community who came to the hospital and carried out the killings.
Kiness Abu Motab, a volunteer at the hospital, said of the victims: "What is their crime? Just for being a minority in a democratic country?"
"They are criminals. They are monsters. We don't trust them at all," Osama Malak, an English teacher in the city told me outside the hospital gates. "They shot an eight-year-old disabled boy in the head," he said. "According to international law, hospitals should be protected. But they attacked us even in the hospitals."
"They entered the hospital. They started shooting everybody. They shot the patients in their beds as they slept."
All sides in this conflict have been accusing each other of committing atrocities. Both Bedouin and Druze fighters as well as the Syrian army have been accused of killing civilians and extrajudicial killings. There is not yet a clear picture of what happened at the hospital. Some here estimate the number of people killed last Wednesday to be more than 300, but that figure cannot be verified.
On Tuesday night, the Syrian defense ministry said in a statement that it was aware of reports of "shocking violations" by people in military fatigues in the country's predominantly Druze city of Suweida. Earlier this week, Raed Saleh, the Syrian Minister for Disaster Management and Emergency Response, told me that any allegations of atrocities committed by all sides would be fully investigated.
Access to Suweida city has been heavily restricted, making it challenging to gather firsthand evidence. The city is effectively under siege, with Syrian government forces imposing restrictions on movement. To gain access, we had to navigate through numerous checkpoints.
As we entered the city, we passed burned-out shops and buildings, and cars that had been crushed by tanks. Suweida city had clearly been the site of serious battles between Druze and Bedouin fighters. It was at that point that the Syrian government first intervened to try and enforce a ceasefire.
Although many Druze villages in the Suweida province have been recaptured by government forces, the city, which is home to over 70,000 people, remains under full Druze control.
Before we left the hospital, we found eight-year-old Hala al-Khatib sitting on a bench with her aunt. Hala's face is bloodied and bandaged. She appears to have lost an eye. She tells us that gunmen came and shot her in the head while she was hiding in a cupboard in her home. Hala doesn't know it yet, but both her parents are dead.
'There were bodies everywhere': Druze residents describe 'bloodbath' in Syrian city Suweida. UN says it has credible reports of summary executions during Syria fighting.
