A 28-year-old man identified as Alwan Khaled al-Bal’as, from al-Bustan village in the western suburbs of Suwayda, was shot dead on May 4, 2023, while he was herding cattle, by gunmen we have not yet been able to identify near Samid village in the northwestern suburbs of Suwayda.
The area is under the control of Syrian regime forces. The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) is still trying to locate eyewitnesses to obtain more information about the incident. We call on the controlling forces to uphold their responsibilities for protecting civilians in their areas, to investigate this incident, and to make the findings of this investigation known to the public. Syria will never have true stability without a genuine political transition process towards democracy within a fixed timetable.