MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Israel has attacked Syrian government forces near Damascus in what it says is a bid to protect a religious minority. The Israeli airstrike and recent clashes between Druze and Sunni Muslim fighters have so far killed dozens this week. NPR's Jane Arraf has more on the latest threat to Syria's stability.
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: The Druze are one of Syria's biggest minorities. The community is an offshoot of Shia Islam that has long been marginalized and persecuted. Their militias control one of Syria's southern provinces and some towns and cities near Damascus. Since the Assad regime fell last year, there have been isolated clashes with government security forces, who are mostly from a militant Sunni Arab group. But tension had eased - until this week.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Arabic).
ARRAF: A voice recording claiming to be a Druze insulting the Prophet Muhammad was widely circulated on regional media, like this censored version from a Lebanese outlet. It set off clashes Tuesday in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana. Syrian government officials said 14 people - Druze and government security forces - were killed. Druze officials themselves condemned the recording. But the clashes spread yesterday to the town of Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, close to Damascus, and then Israel stepped in. State media said all in all, in Wednesday's clashes, 16 security force members were killed.
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AMER AL-SHEIKH: (Speaking Arabic).
ARRAF: The area's governor, Amer Al-Sheikh, said it was Israeli airstrikes that killed at least one Syrian government fighter and a town resident. Israel called the attack a warning and said it had struck an extremist group. Israel had threatened earlier this year to launch attacks in Jaramana to protect the Druze. In Israel, Druze men serve in the Israeli military. The Syrian government and its main backer, Turkey, consider increasing Israeli attacks and incursions into Syria as a threat to the new government's sovereignty and stability. Turkey's president called the Israeli strikes unacceptable. Syrian Druze are split over the issue of Israeli protection, although most reject it. Syrian state media said government forces reached an agreement with Druze elders after the clashes, and this morning, there's an uneasy truce.
Jane Arraf, NPR News, Amman.
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