Nov 13, 2018

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has called on the country's Druze community to do military service, days after members of the minority were released following a mass abduction in July by the Islamic State group.

Sweida province is the heartland of Syria's Druze minority, who made up around three percent of the country's pre-war population -- or around 700,000 people.

Since the conflict erupted in 2011, thousands of Druze, especially those in Sweida, have refused to be conscripted, instead joining local militias promising to protect the region.

Damascus has so far turned a blind eye as long as the Druze militias do not ally with rebel groups.

Speaking to a group of former hostages and their families on Tuesday, Assad thanked the army, sayi