Attack on Damascus nightclub kills woman, Druze shrine burnt in southern Syria

A shooting attack at a restaurant and nightclub in central Damascus left at least one woman killed, in another violent incident which has raised concerns over freedoms in the country with the rise of Islamists to power.

It was the second attack in less than 24 hours targeting a nightlife venue in the Syrian capital. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, reported that "unidentified gunmen attacked the Al-Karawan nightclub in Al-Hijaz area with automatic weapons and opened fire, killing a woman and wounding others".

Footage of the aftermath had been widely shared online showing the club's floor covered in victims' blood and the woman supposedly killed.

The club is located in a commercial area in the heart of Damascus, where many licensed nightclubs and bars have been operating for decades.

It remains unclear who was behind the shooting.

Hours before that incident, a video circulated on social media showing security camera footage from a previous attack on a nightclub in the same area.

The Syrian interior ministry announced the arrest of "a number" of armed individuals on Sunday involved in that attack without specifying how many or who they are.

"A video captured by a surveillance camera and posted on social media documents an attack by a number of military personnel on a group of individuals in a neighbourhood of the capital," the ministry said.

When the video was verified, "all urgent measures were taken to pursue and apprehend the perpetrators," it added.

There have been previous unverified reports of armed men, purportedly linked to the government’s security apparatus, raiding venues that play music and serve alcohol or harassing their owners.

Druze shrine burnt

The latest attack has caused outrage among many Syrians in a country still reeling from 14 years of conflict, and most lately sectarian clashes.

Since Islamist-led rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December and took power, there have been concerns about liberties in the country that has always boasted its rich history and culture.

There are also growing fears for the future of Syria’s minorities.

Despite the new government’s repeated reassurances that it will protect religious and ethnic minority groups and ensure their freedoms, the violence and incitement by many Syrians – and even foreign fighters – has brewed fears of a prolonged civil war.

March saw violent clashes in coastal regions that killed over a thousand people, mostly civilians from the Alawite community, and last month saw deadly clashes between government forces and Druze gunmen, which also killed dozens.

The clashes erupted in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana and spread to Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, both predominantly Druze.

An attempted incursion into the southern Suweida governorate failed, and no agreement has been reached for security forces to enter the region or disarm the Druze there.

A religious shrine in southern Syria was burnt over the weekend, fuelling more tensions.

The shrine belonging to Al-Khidr, who Druze revere as a mystic who possessed great wisdom, in the village of Al-Soura al-Kabira in the Suweida countryside was ransacked and burnt.

It remained unclear who was behind the incident.