📰 Militias of al-Hijri Launch Sweeping Arrest Campaign in Suweida

In the highlands of Suweida, where ancient stone bears silent witness to generations of Druze resilience amid syria-takes-part-in-global-airports-forum-2025-in-riyadh/" class="smart-internal-link" title="📰 Syria takes part in Global Airports Forum 2025 in Riyadh">syria/" class="auto-internal-link">syria’s shifting storms, a fresh wave of repression has descended. Additionally, local sources report that the National Guard—armed loyalists of Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, one of the three senior Druze religious leaders—has launched a widespread campaign of arrests across the city and its surrounding villages. Officially, five people have been detained, but accounts from the ground suggest a broader sweep, including women, with their cries echoing through narrow alleyways as raids unfold under cover of night. Media outlets aligned with al-Hijri have verified the detention of five individuals, including the prominent Sheikh Raed al-Matni and Asim Abu Fakhr—names of considerable weight in the province’s contentious political landscape. In fact, but residents describe a darker picture: indiscriminate raids that breach family homes, leaving women pleading with armed troops at their doorstep.

One widely shared video shows a scene of panic and protest, disseminated by Suweida’s embattled internal security chief, Suleiman Abdul Baqi, whose own home was targeted. In the footage, women confront masked members of the Guard, their voices cracking with fear. Abdul Baqi, visibly incensed, responds with an incendiary address: “For the sake of your eyes, O Mother, O sisters—else I shall scorch the earth beneath you, you swine. Your manhood falters against women. ” He continues, directing his ire at the Guard: “We have come for you, pigs of the National Guard, Suweida’s syndicates, dogs of Hikmat al-Hijri. Additionally, ” Shared widely online, the video has become a flashpoint—seen by some as a call to arms, by others as a desperate cry against rising tribal authoritarianism.

As families of the detained reach out for answers—some even contacting Suweida 24, a network previously aligned with al-Hijri’s bloc—no clarity has emerged. The National Guard has issued no formal statement. Their supporters have vaguely cited a “foiled attempt to disrupt security,” but have offered no evidence. Notably, local activists believe the real targets are affiliates of Sheikh Youssef Jarbu’, whose family compounds have also been placed under siege. The dragnet has reportedly extended to relatives of Layth al-Bal’ous, from the influential al-Zaydan clan, as well as members of Abdul Baqi’s own family—a deepening spiral of retaliatory politics.

This is not a sudden flare-up, but a recurring expression of al-Hijri’s dominance. Past crackdowns have sent a clear message: any coordination with Damascus—or even dialogue—is treated as betrayal, punishable by force. In this environment, the…