Syrian Minority Leader Calls for Foreign Help as Violence Mounts

Armed Syrian government forces  in Sahnaya, Syria, on April 30.

Photographer: Mohamad Daboul/AFP/Getty Images
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A spiritual leader of Syria’s Druze minority called on international forces to protect his community from the new government after a wave of violence left dozens of people dead.

Overseas troops should “immediately” be deployed to protect the Druze, Alawites and other vulnerable communities after a breakdown in relations with the administration of Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, according to Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, Syria’s most influential Druze religious figure.