Syrians in Damascus suburb in fear after sectarian violence

In her home in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, Riham Waqqaf spent the night trying to distract her children from the sound of sectarian clashes that have terrified local residents.

"The gunfire didn't stop throughout the night and intensified at dawn," said the 33-year-old humanitarian worker.

She told AFP by telephone on Tuesday that she tried to shield her children, but "turning up the TV volume or giving them my phone to watch video clips... did not help".

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, six Druze fighters and three "attackers" were killed in the clashes that have left Jaramana residents fearing a repeat of sectarian bloodshed on Syria's coast last month.

A mostly Druze and Christian suburb in southeast Damascus, Jaramana is also home to families who were displaced during Syria's conflict, which erupted in 2011. According to unofficial estimates, the area is home to around one million people.

The latest violence erupted after a voice recording deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammed and attributed to an individual from Syria's Druze minority began circulating on social media.

AFP was unable to confirm the authenticity of the recording, which sparked outrage and calls for revenge.

Druze leaders condemned the "fabricated" message as well as the attack on Jaramana.

The clashes are the latest challenge for Syria's new Islamist authorities who took power after ousting longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad in December.

- 'Not reassuring' -

The new authorities have repeatedly sought to reassure minorities that they will be protected, and are trying to present a moderate image while also contending with pressures from radical Islamists among their ranks.

Jaramana residents told AFP they heard clashes through the night but that the violence abated in the morning.

An AFP photographer saw local gunmen at the suburb's entrances, while forces affiliated with the defence and interior ministries were stationed near the airport road that overlooks the area.

Some shops reopened but streets were largely empty as residents stayed indoors.

"The situation is not reassuring," said Waqqaf, who was unable to take her mother to a hospital appointment or her children to school.

"I am afraid that Jaramana might turn into a battlefield," she added.

Syrian authorities, local sources and the Observatory said fighters from outside Jaramana attacked the district.

The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria, blamed "security forces and affiliated gunmen".

However Rabih Munzir, a member of a citizens' coordination group in Jaramana, said central security forces had contacted the local command centre, reporting "an attempt by uncontrolled crowds to enter Jaramana".

Gunmen attacked local security force personnel affiliated with the central authorities, killing two of them, Munzir added.

After that, "intermittent clashes" took place from midnight until the early hours with armed groups who tried to enter the district, he said.

Druze religious leaders said most of the dead and wounded were local security force personnel who were on duty when the assault took place.

- 'Afraid' -

Residents expressed fear the clashes could escalate, after violence last month on the Syrian coast saw security forces and allied groups kill more than 1,700 civilians, mostly from the Alawite minority, according to the Observatory.

The Islamist authorities accused Assad loyalists of sparking the violence by attacking security forces, and have launched an inquiry into the bloodshed, the worst since Assad's fall.

Munzir said the risk of an armed incursion into Jaramana was "very great".

"We are afraid of a repeat of what happened on the coast," he said.

"A fabricated recording by someone whose identity nobody can prove must not endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands of people," he added.

"This is what we fear -- particularly as there is still an ongoing sectarian mobilisation... there is strife," Munzir said.

The interior ministry vowed to bring those involved to justice.

During Syria's conflict, Jaramana's outskirts saw bombings and armed attacks, but its interior was largely spared.

Since Assad's ouster, Jaramana has seen tensions and clashes with Druze fighters, and last month security forces deployed in the area.

A local gunman, identifying himself as Jamal, said that "Jaramana has not witnessed a day like this in many years".

The area "is usually packed, lively, it never sleeps" but on Tuesday it was "dead and everyone is at home".