SOHR: 1,653 Killed in Sweida Massacre, Including 429 Executed by Defense and Interior Forces
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports government forces executed 429 civilians - including 38 women, 14 children, and 20 hospital staff - among 1,653 killed since violence erupted July 13. Medical workers were deliberately targeted in hospital attacks SOHR Director said.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has released a grim new tally of the victims of the Sweida massacre, documenting by name 1,653 people killed since the outbreak of violence on July 13, including 429 executed in the field by members of Syria’s Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior.
SOHR Director Rami Abdulrahman told Kurdistan24 that the Observatory has now identified 28 civilians, including 12 women, who were executed by defense and interior ministry personnel during the events in Sweida. This raises the total number of field executions to 429, among them 38 women, 14 children and elderly people, as well as 20 members of the medical staff at the Sweida National Hospital who were killed by gunfire from the same forces.
The Observatory reported that among the documented victims are 20 health workers from the Sweida Health Directorate who were killed on July 16 during a deadly assault on the National Hospital. The attack targeted doctors, engineers, nurses, technicians, as well as cleaning and maintenance staff, drivers, and facility guards.
According to Abdulrahman, these mass killings have taken place against the backdrop of a rapidly deteriorating security situation in Sweida. Large parts of the province have seen a surge in armed attacks targeting civilians and vital infrastructure, heightening the population’s suffering and threatening the collapse of the local healthcare sector.
The total death toll since Sunday, July 13, as a result of clashes, field executions, and Israeli airstrikes has reached 1,653, distributed as follows:
1- 724 from Sweida province, including 166 civilians — among them 21 children and 56 women.
2- 477 members of the Ministry of Defense and Public Security, including 40 from Bedouin tribes and one Lebanese national.
3-15 members of the defense and interior ministries killed by Israeli airstrikes.
4- 3 people — a woman and two unidentified individuals — killed when Israeli warplanes struck the Ministry of Defense building.
5- 2 journalists killed during the fighting in Sweida.
6- 429 people, including 38 women, 14 children and elderly persons, and 20 hospital staff, executed in the field by defense and interior ministry personnel.
7- 3 Bedouin tribespeople — a woman and a child among them — executed by armed Druze fighters.
Abdulrahman stressed its continued commitment to documenting violations against civilians and vital sectors in Syria, affirming its mission to uncover the truth and present it to both domestic and international audiences in support of efforts to protect civilians and expose the crimes committed against them.
