A Syrian Druze woman living in the United Arab Emirates frantically tried to keep in touch with her family in her hometown in southern Syria as clashes raged there over the past days. Her mother, father and sister sent videos of their neighbors fleeing as fighters moved in.

Attacks against Druze civilians, allegedly carried out by members of government forces, have multiplied in recent days in the city of Sweida and its surrounding areas, which remain cut off from the outside world.