One of the blast sites in Suweida. At least four suicide bombers struck in the city with Isis fighters also attacking surrounding villages, temporarily capturing some

Islamic State has killed at least 220 people in suicide bombings in the Syrian town of Suweida and surrounding villages. The town, close to the Israeli border in southwest Syria, is the heartland of the Syrian Druze, an insular sect scattered across the Levant region.

Isis views the Druze, who follow a schism of Islam that blends elements of Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism into its teachings, as heretics. The terrorist group, which follows an extreme version of Sunni Islam, has repeatedly attacked Suweida, which is controlled by President Assad’s forces, over the past five years.

Isis has also committed atrocities against smaller Druze communities in northern Syria. In December 2013, 14 Druze villages in the northwestern province of Idlib fell under its control amid claims