New Footage shows fires and armed fighters in Syrian Druze villagepublished at 12:02 British Summer Time
12:02 BST
Sebastian Vandermeersch
BBC Verify
We’re turning to Syria now, where reports of renewed fighting in Suweida province have emerged. Violence erupted in the region on Sunday between the minority Druze people and Bedouin tribal militias.
We have verified footage showing armed fighters in the Druze village of Walgha, located about 3km northwest of the provincial capital.
Days of fighting between Druze and Bedouin groups have left more than 500 people dead, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR).
BBC Verify has not been able to confirm those figures, but we’ve seen footage of dozens of bodies piled up in Suweida Hospital.
The new video shows men armed with AK-type rifles walking among burning buildings, with multiple fires visible. We confirmed the location by matching distinct buildings and terrain features seen in the footage, and used the length and angle of shadows to establish that the video was filmed in the morning.
Reverse image searches of screengrabs confirmed that the footage is a new upload.
Image source, Armed fighters seen among fires in Walgha village.