ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) on Tuesday reported that it obtained video footage of Syrian defense ministry personnel summarily executing seven Druze individuals, one of whom was a US citizen.

In the video, which has been seen by The New Region, uniformed gunmen gun down a row of kneeling individuals—who are unarmed and in civilian clothes—while letting out cries of “Allahu Akbar.”

One of the executed individuals was identified as Hosam Soraya, with the Observatory providing pictures of his US passport as proof of his American citizenship.

Picture: SOHR

The SOHR identified the location where the footage was filmed as Tishrin Square in the heart of Suwayda, a majority Druze city that has been the epicenter of a recent wave of violence in southern Syria.

“The incident dates back to the day government forces stormed As-Suwayda city,” according to the SOHR.

Armed hostilities erupted in the vicinity of Syria’s Suwayda on July 13, with Bedouin tribal groups clashing with internal security forces in the Druze-majority area.

The subsequent clashes saw the deployment of Syrian security forces, leading to allegations they had joined forces with the Sunni Bedouin against the Druze religious minority.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanded an end to "the rape and slaughter of innocent people" in Syria in a post on X on Saturday. 

"They must hold accountable and bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities, including those in their own ranks," the top US diplomat added.

The UK-based watchdog on Monday tallied over 1,260 total dead since the conflict broke out, with this number including 505 Druze fighters and 298 Druze civilians, 194 of whom were "summarily executed by defence and interior ministry personnel.”

Also included in the figure were 406 state security forces and 35 members of the Bedouin community, in addition to 15 government troops killed by Israeli airstrikes that Tel Aviv claims sought to protect the Druze from reprisals.

The report also noted that three of the deceased Bedouin were “summarily executed by Druze fighters.”