In mid-July, forces from the Public Security Directorate and the Ministry of Defense under the de facto authorities stormed the town of Khelkhleh, located in the northern countryside of As-Suwayda, accompanied by large numbers of tribal militias. The town witnessed widespread looting and arson, with homes set ablaze before the eyes of their residents.

🗣️ A local witness recounts:

“These people have no honor or word. Only ten of us remained in the town after we evacuated everyone just hours before their arrival. We tried to negotiate with them to protect our homes and livelihoods, while at the same time we saw members of the Public Security Directorate looting shops, and armed Bedouin fighters who came with their families stealing and ransacking everything.
Ninety percent of the houses were burned, and those who stayed behind were martyred. We were unarmed and believed they came to establish security and safety. We believed there was a state — and that’s why today we are displaced.”

The witness adds:

“Even worse, those who stayed in the town were killed inside their homes, and their bodies remain unrecovered to this day. One elderly man is missing — we don’t know if he was killed or is still alive. He suffers from a chronic illness and needs daily medication, but no one knows if he still has his medicine or if it has run out. No one knows his fate — and if he is still alive, his condition is in critical danger without his daily treatment.”

The witness also noted that one of the elderly survivors who managed to escape the massacre died four days later of a heart attack, reportedly due to the shock and grief over what had happened in his village.