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Pakistan's most influential Sunni scholar, Mufti Taqi Usmani, has encouraged a boycott of products perceived to be linked to the war.

"Our slogan is 'To Save one life is to save all of the humanity'. It doesn't matter if it is a Muslim, Sunni, Alawite, Christian, Druze or even an atheist. Those families are our families."

While Sunni Syrians fled after the 1973 war, some Druze stayed on and formed close ties to Israel, serving in the army and even taking Israeli citizenship.

Many hard-line Sunni Islamists count members of the Alawite sect as infidels.

Ali and his family were picked up by his Sunni neighbours, who follow a different branch of Islam, and are now staying with them.