Just over three weeks after the December 2024 overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria, the BBC News website published a report by Sebastian Usher headlined ‘Foreign fighters given senior Syrian army posts, reports say’.
“The new Syrian authorities are reported to have given some foreign Islamist fighters senior official posts in the country’s armed forces.
The army is being re-organised by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group that is now effectively in charge of the country following the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month. […]
Several Syrian sources have deduced that out of almost 50 new military roles that have been announced, at least six have gone to foreigners.
Based on the names that have been published, they are said to include Chinese Uyghurs, a Jordanian and a Turkish national. All are said to have been given high-ranking positions as colonels or brigadier-generals.”
As was noted here at the time, Usher did not name any of the new appointees:
“Information such as the names, backgrounds and, in some cases, terrorist designations of those new commanders in the armed forces would clearly have better enabled BBC audiences to understand developments in Syria but for some reason it was not provided by Sebastian Usher.”
The failure to provide that and additional relevant information can only have hindered audience understanding of the most recent big story coming out of Syria, which began on July 13th.
Between July 14th and July 21st, violent events in southern Syria were extensively covered on the BBC News website.
- Much of the BBC’s coverage mentions – or indeed focuses on – related Israeli strikes in Syria.
- Only two of the BBC’s reports note the context of the mass killings of Alawite citizens in western Syria in March 2025 but no mention is made of the involvement of an EU sanctioned Syrian security forces commander in both those incidents and the latest ones in Suweida.
- Only two of the BBC’s reports mention the presence of foreign fighters among the Syrian regime forces [here and here].
- None of the BBC’s reporting mentions the killings of Christians in the Suweida district.
- None of the BBC’s reports include footage of confirmed violent incidents.
- None of the BBC’s coverage mentions threats against Israel.
- None of the BBC’s reporting mentions the documented cases of Syrian regime forces wearing ISIS patches on their uniforms.
Of particular note is the varying portrayal of the topic of ‘Islamist forces’ in the BBC’s reporting. While many of the articles acknowledge that Bashar al Assad was overthrown in December by forces led by Islamist rebels, less than half of them mention Islamist elements within the new regime’s government and security forces, and those that do in most cases refer to them as “allied” or “affiliated”, thus implying that they are separate from regime “security forces”.
The BBC’s coverage between July 14th and July 21st included thirteen items: [emphasis added]
1) “Dozens killed in clashes between Druze and Bedouin in southern Syria” Victoria Bourne and David Gritten, 14/7/25
“It is the latest outbreak of deadly sectarian violence in the country since Islamist-led rebel forces overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December.”
2) “Israel bombs Syrian forces entering Druze city after sectarian clashes” David Gritten, 15/7/25
“This is the first time that Syrian government forces have been deployed to Suweida since Islamist-led rebels overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December.”
3) “US says ‘specific steps’ agreed to end Syria violence after Israeli strikes hit Damascus” David Gritten, 15/7/25
“The Israeli military began striking Syrian security forces and their weapons on Monday, after they were deployed to the city of Suweida for the first time since Sunni Islamist-led rebels overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December.”
“Their [minority groups in Syria] fears have been heightened by several outbreaks of sectarian violence over the past eight months, including one in May in which dozens of people were reportedly killed in clashes between Druze, security forces, and allied Islamist fighters in Damascus and Suweida.”
4) “Watch: How a day of bombing unfolded in Damascus“16/7/25
5) “Who are the Druze and why is Israel attacking Syria?” Tess Mallinder Heron (BBC Monitoring), 17/7/25
“…the recent Islamist-led rebel takeover of Damascus in December 2024.”
“As Sharaa attempts to establish control over Syria and to unite its various groups, it remains to be seen whether his Islamist-dominated government will be able to reconcile Syria’s deep-rooted sectarian divisions, stoked by years of civil war. The sectarian clashes, along with the Israeli strikes, threaten to derail attempts at state-building and post-war recovery.
Israel, for its part, is likely to continue to perceive the new authorities, and its affiliated Islamist fighters in the south, as a significant security threat – pushing it to pursue alliances with groups that may feel alienated by the new authorities.”
6) “Watch: BBC reports from severely damaged Syrian defence headquarters” Lina Sinjab, 17/7/25
7) “Syria leader vows to protect Druze after sectarian violence prompts Israeli strikes” David Gritten, 17/7/25
“The government responded by deploying its forces to the predominantly Druze city of Suweida for the first time since Sharaa’s Sunni Islamist group led the rebel offensive that overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December, ending 13 years of civil war. […]
Syrian Druze and other minorities have remained suspicious of Sharaa since he took power because of his jihadist past. His Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is a former al-Qaeda affiliate that is still designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN.
Their fears have been heightened by several outbreaks of deadly sectarian violence, including one in May between Druze militias, security forces and allied Islamist fighters that also prompted Israel intervene militarily.”
8) “Almost 600 killed in south Syria violence, monitoring group says” Emir Nader, 18/7/25
“Convoys of fighters from Syria’s Islamist-led government began entering the city on Monday, ostensibly to restore order following the clashes between the Druze and Bedouin.”
9) “UN says it has credible reports of summary executions during Syria fighting” David Gritten, 18/7/25
“When the clashes between the Bedouin and Druze erupted at the weekend, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government responded by deploying forces to Suweida city for the first time since Islamist-led rebels overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December, ending 13 years of civil war.”
10) “‘There were bodies everywhere’: Druze residents describe ‘bloodbath’ in Syrian city Suweida” Lina Sinjab, 18/7/25
“As the fighting spread to other parts of the southern province, the government of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa – who led the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime by Islamist-led rebels in December – announced that it would deploy the interior and defence ministry’s forces to “restore stability”.”
“Those we spoke to said most of the fighters who entered Suweida and attacked civilians appeared to be Islamists.
One woman heard the fighters shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) in her building, calling the Druze “infidels” and “pigs”, and saying they were there to kill them.”
“It resembled the message the president delivered when government forces and allied Islamist fighters carried out deadly reprisals against civilians from another religious minority, the Alawites, in response to attacks by Assad loyalists in the coastal region in March.”
11) “Syria struggles to quell deadly Bedouin-Druze clashes in south” Jon Donnison, Jaroslav Lukiv and Amy Walker, 19/7/25
“Rubio wrote: “If authorities in Damascus want to preserve any chance of achieving a unified, inclusive and peaceful Syria free of ISIS [Islamic State] and of Iranian control they must help end this calamity by using their security forces to prevent ISIS and any other violent jihadists from entering the area and carrying out massacres.”
12) “Bedouins tell BBC they could return to fighting Druze in Syria” Jon Donnison and Rebecca Hartmann, 20/7/25
13) “Watch: At the final checkpoint before the ‘dangerous’ road to Suweida city” Jon Donnison, 21/7 /25
Some of the BBC’s coverage (for example here and here) reported one of the statements made by Syria’s interim president.
“In a televised address early on Thursday, Sharaa vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable and promised to make protecting the Druze a “priority”.
“We are eager to hold accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people because they are under the protection and responsibility of the state,” he said.”
While it is obviously in Al-Sharaa’s overall interest to distance himself from the documented atrocities in Suweida, the question of whether or not he really is willing or able to hold the perpetrators to account depends very much on his degree of reliance on Islamist elements in his government and armed forces. That aspect of this story and previous ones concerning attacks against minorities in Syria is one which clearly has not been adequately addressed in BBC reporting since December 2024.
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