‘Shot in the head, as if executed’: four days of violence end with hundreds dead in southern Syria

Syrian Druze fighters pose for a photograph after Syrian government forces pulled out of Sweida on Wednesday. Photograph: Shadi Al-Dubaisi/AFP/Getty Images

Bahaa* had no choice but to keep on working as patient after patient came through the doors of the Sweida National hospital in southern Syria. Almost all bore similar injuries: gunshot wounds and bodies shredded by shrapnel from nearby exploding artillery.

“There were hundreds of wounded, no less than 200 bodies in the hospital. Many of them shot in the head, as if executed,” said Bahaa, a surgeon speaking of the events of this week in Sweida under a pseudonym for fear of retribution.