REUTERS: Syria has interrogated and detained members of its defense and interior ministries suspected of committing abuses against civilians in the predominantly Druze province of Sweida in July, the committee investigating the violence has said.
Hundreds of people were killed in Sweida in violence that began between tribes and Druze factions but which worsened after Syrian troops were dispatched to the area. Bereaved relatives accused government forces of committing execution-style killings on camera.
Syria appointed a committee to investigate the violence on July 31. Its spokesperson Ammar Izzedin told Syrian and regional media outlets on Tuesday night that members of both the interior and defense ministries had been questioned and referred to the judiciary over their suspected involvement in abuses.
Izzedin declined to say how many personnel were detained, but said they were Syrian nationals who carried out the atrocities in an individual capacity.
He told regional broadcaster Al-Hadath the committee had confronted the suspects with “the video footage in which they were seen” committing abuses without specifying what they were.
