Sectarian attacks rise in rural Damascus

The areas of Sayyida Zainab and Hajira in rural Damascus have witnessed a dangerous escalation in sectarian attacks, raising serious concerns about renewed tensions among Syrian societal components amid a lack of security in regions under the transitional government’s control.

 In Sayyida Zainab, a young man from the Shia community was found brutally murdered after being lured by unknown individuals while working as a taxi driver. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the victim hailed from the town of Zahraa in rural Aleppo and had been living in the area for years.

 The attack appeared premeditated, sparking widespread fear among residents, who demanded an urgent investigation and justice for the perpetrators.

 In a separate but equally alarming incident, an armed group expelled a Shia family from their home in Hajira, south of Damascus, after storming the house at midnight and verbally and physically assaulting its members.

 The family, consisting of an elderly couple and their daughter, originally from Kfarya, had legally owned the house for years. The attackers shouted, “We are locals, and we won’t allow a Shia family to live among us,” before forcibly evicting them and seizing their belongings, including furniture and electronics. Only one item was returned after a verbal altercation. Despite the family’s appeals to security authorities and presentation of documents proving home ownership, they received no official response.

Instead, they later received a threatening message stating, “Soak your house papers and drink the water,” a clear indication of the attackers’ intent to enforce forced displacement.

Notably, this family was among the last Shia families residing in Hajira, amid increasing harassment and attacks against certain communities in parts of rural Damascus hosting displaced people from the north. This trend reinforces exclusionary rhetoric and threatens the unity of the social fabric.

a.k

ANHA