BEIRUT, Lebanon — Fighters from the Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s arm in Syria, have killed at least 20 members of the minority Druse sect in a dispute in northern Syria, fueling fears over how the group treats civilians and minorities as it consolidates power and advances in new areas.
The killings took place on Wednesday night in the mostly Druse village of Qalb Lawzi in Idlib Province, where the Nusra Front and allied insurgents have been advancing in recent months, seizing the provincial capital in March.
The episode — said to have begun with an argument over the Nusra Front’s demand to confiscate a government soldier’s house — comes as the militant group seeks to portray itself to Syrians as being more tolerant and willing to share power in local governance than the rival extremists of the Islamic State.