A local armed faction in Druze-majority Suwaida province in southwestern Syria has accused Damascus and Moscow of negligence .
Rijal al-Karama (Men of Dignity) condemned Damascus for “deliberately” creating a security vacuum in the city of Suwaida, and lashed out at Moscow for not stopping an armed faction loyal to Russia in Daraa from causing tension in southern Syria.
Rijal al-Karama held Moscow responsible for the deadly incidents in the town of Karya in Suwaida’s countryside.
“Brigades of the pro-Russian 5th Corps are responsible for the attack on Karya. Therefore, Russia is directly linked to the massacre committed by this corps and should punish the offenders, starting from Moscow’s ally Ahmad Aoude to all members who took part in the mass killing of residents,” the Druze Movement said in a statement.
It also accused the Damascus government of full responsibility for the “security vacuum.”
Separately, Turkish and Russian forces ran a new joint patrol as part of a ceasefire agreement made on March 5 by Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to end the fighting in the northwestern Idlib province.
The patrol, including six Russian and six Turkish vehicles, toured the border with Turkey west of Derbassiya, and a number of villages, reaching the countryside of Amouda.
Turkey’s vehicles later entered Turkish territories, while the Russian patrols went to Qamishli.
