A small group of armed fighters renew their allegiance to their brigade commander with a traditional Druze dance in the Syrian town of Suwayda near the border with Jordan.
Suwayda is the bastion of the Druze, one of the Middle East’s most insular minorities based largely in the borderlands between Syria, Lebanon and Israel.
Chekib Azzam is the strongman of Suwayda, with a brigade of around 7,000 fighters under his command.
He welcomes all the fighters who have pledged loyalty to him and states his position clearly.
“Our brigades are all united. But we categorically refuse to give up our weapons, we are in the field, and we are used to the fear and distrust,” he says.
Following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has said the country’s myriad armed factions will be dissolved and enter the national army with all weapons coming under state control.
Read moreSyrian rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa says state to control all weapons
But in this southwestern corner of Syria, there is still distrust in these uncertain times.
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