An armed confrontation between Jabhat a-Nusra and the Druze of the Jabal a-Sumak region in the northern Idlib countryside unfolded Wednesday with conflicting information as to the reason behind the dispute and the number of casualties.
Here, Abdul Majeed, a Druze civilian from a village neighboring Qalb Loza, the site of the event, tells Syria Direct that the conflict started when Nusra members tried to build a wall in a house they had confiscated from a Druze family. The dispute eventually ended with 23 Druze dead, “and God only knows what would have happened” had nearby rebel brigades not intervened.
Abdul Majeed’s detailed account, he says, comes from a resident who fled Qalb Loza to seek help in neighboring villages at the beginning of the incident.
Q: What are the real reasons that led to the confrontation between the Druze and Nusra in the village of Qalb Loza?
“Nusra had previously taken control of houses whose owners left a long time ago. They weren't houses belonging toshabiha as some media outlets have claimed. Nusra was building a wall inside one of the houses in order to split it up; the house owner's relatives objected, and a fight broke out.
Jabhat a-Nusra tried to arrest members of the family that objected. Some Nusra fighters readied their rifles and others moved to put the family into a car. One Nusra member put his rifle aside so he could push one of them in more easily.
The brother of the man being pushed tried to take that rifle from the ground. A second Nusra fighter shot him, and at that instant the fighter who had dropped his gun moved towards it so the brother of the detainee wouldn't take it. The Nusra bullets hit two people, the fighter who was going for his gun and the Druze brother who tried to take it.
After their comrade was killed, Nusra called for backup over their walkie-talkies and opened fire on passersby and nearby houses, killing 23 innocent people, none of whom picked up a weapon or even thought of resisting. If not for the mediation of rebels from Kufr Takharim, God only knows what would have happened.”