Israel strikes tanks in southern Syria as forces clash with Druze militias
Dozens of people have been killed in the fighting between local militias and clans in Syria 's Sweida province.
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Government security forces that were sent to restore order on Monday also clashed with local armed groups.
The Interior Ministry has said more than 30 people died and nearly 100 others have been injured in that fighting.
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Reuters
24 minutes ago
- Reuters
Syrian Druze leader urges local fighters to confront incoming government troops
SWEIDA, July 15 (Reuters) - A leading Druze spiritual leader accused the Syrian leadership in Damascus of bombarding the southern city of Sweida despite having reached an agreement to quell violence, and he called on fighters to confront Syrian troops entering the city. The video statement by influential Druze Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri on Tuesday poses a challenge for the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose forces toppled former leader Bashar al-Assad last December and is seeking to bring all of Syrian territory under centralised rule after nearly 14 years of war that had left the country divided into separate enclaves. For months, Druze leaders said they did not trust the new Syrian government and pushed back against the presence of their troops, saying they would secure Sweida with their own local fighters. Neighbouring Israel also conducted strikes on Syrian troops in Sweida and near Damascus with the stated aim of protecting the Druze minority, which is an offshoot of Islam with adherents in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. But earlier this week, a new round of heavy fighting broke out between Druze armed groups and Bedouin fighters in Sweida province, leaving dozens dead and thousands displaced. Syria's defence and interior ministries dispatched units to quell the fighting and exert control over the province. The Druze spiritual leadership said in a written statement on Tuesday morning that it would allow Syrian forces to enter Sweida city to stop the bloodshed, calling on armed groups to surrender their weapons and cooperate with incoming troops. But hours later, al-Hajri, who has been strongly opposed to the new leadership in Damascus, said the statement had been "imposed" on them by Damascus and that Syrian troops had breached the arrangement by continuing to fire on residents. "We are being subject to a total war of extermination," he said in a recorded video statement, calling on all Druze "to confront this barbaric campaign with all means available". Convoys of Syrian army tanks, trucks and motorcycles entered parts of Sweida city by mid-morning and were continuing to fire on neighbourhoods there, a Reuters reporter in Sweida said. The reporter said Israeli warplanes could be seen flying above the city, but there were no immediate reports of strikes. On Monday, Israel's military said it had carried out several strikes on tanks approaching Sweida "to prevent their arrival to the area" because they could pose a threat to Israel. Israel said earlier this year that it would not allow Syria's new army to deploy south of Damascus and that Sweida and neighbouring provinces should make up a demilitarized zone. But some of those tensions had calmed after Israel and Syria began direct talks to prevent conflict in the border region between the two longtime foes.
The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
Syria announces ceasefire after sectarian violence
Syria 's defence minister announced a ceasefire shortly after government forces entered a key city in Sweida province on Tuesday. The announcement came a day after sectarian clashes that killed dozens, and after a state-run news agency report that Israel had launched a strike in the area. Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said in a statement that after an 'agreement with the city's notables and dignitaries, we will respond only to the sources of fire and deal with any targeting by outlaw groups.' The clashes began with a series of tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between members of local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed factions in the southern province, a center of the Druze community. Government security forces that were sent in on Monday to restore order also clashed with Druze armed groups. During the day, Israel struck Syrian government military tank and said it was acting to protect the Druze religious minority. In Israel, the Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the armed forces. State-run news agency SANA did not give any details about Tuesday's strike. However, the Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Israel struck a tank belonging to the Syrian military as forces began to move in deeper into Sweida city. There was no immediate statement from the Israeli military. Earlier Tuesday, religious leaders of the Druze community in Syria called for armed factions that have been clashing with government forces to surrender their weapons and cooperate with authorities as they entered the provincial capital of Sweida. One of the main religious authorities later released a video statement retracting the call. The initial statement called for armed factions in Sweida to 'cooperate with the forces of the Ministry of Interior, not to resist their entry, and to hand over their weapons to the Ministry of Interior.' The statement also called for 'opening a dialogue with the Syrian government to address the repercussions of the events.' The commander of Internal Security in Sweida Governorate, Brig. Gen. Ahmad al-Dalati, welcomed the statement and called for 'all religious authorities and social activists to adopt a unified national stance that supports the Ministry of Interior's measures to extend state authority and achieve security throughout the province.' Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, a Druze spiritual leader who has been opposed to the government in Damascus, said in a video message that the previous statement by Druze leaders had been issued after an agreement with the authorities in Damascus but 'they broke the promise and continued the indiscriminate shelling of unarmed civilians.' 'We are being subjected to a total war of annihilation,' he said. Some videos on social media had showed armed fighters with Druze captives, inciting sectarian slogans and beating them. The Druze religious sect is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. Clashes have on several occasions broken out between forces loyal to the government and Druze fighters since the fall of President Bashar Assad in early December in a lightning rebel offensive led by Sunni Islamist insurgent groups. The latest round of fighting has raised fears of another spiral of sectarian violence. In March, an ambush on government security forces by fighters loyal to Assad triggered days of sectarian and revenge attacks. Hundreds of civilians were killed, most of them members of the minority Alawite sect that Assad belongs to. A commission was formed to investigate the attacks but has not made its findings public. The conflict has also raised concerns about escalating Israeli intervention. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday that the Israeli military 'attacked targets in Syria as a message and a clear warning to the Syrian regime — we will not allow harm to the Druze in Syria.' While many Druze in Syria have said they do not want Israel to intervene on their behalf, factions from the Druze minority have also been suspicious of the new authorities in Damascus, particularly after the attacks on Alawites and other minority groups. ——
Daily Mail
31 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Protest outside migrant hotel in Essex erupts into violence as fights break out 'after asylum seeker was accused of committing three sexual assaults'
A protest outside a migrant hotel exploded into violent pandemonium after anti-immigration campaigners clashed with 'anti-racism' demonstrators. The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, descended into bloody mayhem as activists brawled on the streets - while police battled to contain the chaos. Hundreds of people had rallied outside the venue after a 38-year-old African asylum seeker was accused of committing three sexual assaults - nine days after allegedly arriving in the UK illegally by boat. Police were forced to break up a fight between two men as large crowds jeered, with some shouting: 'F***ing nonce', 'f*** off back to Walthamstow' and 'paedos'. The outburst of disorder ignited on Sunday evening, with shocking footage appearing to show one man bleeding heavily from his head as he limped to the hotel. 'Go home you c***, go home. F*** off back on your boat and go,' one man is heard screeching as the injured male hobbles his way past a line of police officers. In another clip, two men are seen punching one another and wrestling next to a car before police charge in to break up the brawl. While in a third video, a large crowd of people - some of whom were waving the flag of St George - were seen massing opposite the three-star hotel and repeatedly chanting 'protect our kids', as about a dozen police stood guard. Father-of-three Adam Brooks, an anti-knife campaigner whose dad was brutally stabbed to death when he was a child, was among those at the protest. The Essex-based publican said: 'There's a protest because a migrant is alleged and was charged with sexual assault against a young girl in Epping High Road last week. 'There are worried mothers, worried children, there's grandmothers, fathers, uncles, grandads, and we've got an anti-racism lot that have turned up. 'Things are getting heated here. I just cannot believe that an anti-racism mob would turn up against something like this.' In one video, police were seen escorting some counter-demonstrators away from the hotel as a huge crowd of people continued to jeer. Some of the counter-protestors were seen holding signs saying 'Refugees Welcome: Stop The Far-Right'. Nobody has reportedly been arrested following the disorder, which sparked after Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was charged with three counts of sexual assault, one count of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity, and one count of harassment without violence. Ethiopian national Kebatu reportedly arrived in Britain illegally on June 29, little more than a week before the alleged sex attacks took place. Announcing the news of his arrest on Thursday, Essex Police said: 'We were alerted to reports of a man acting inappropriately towards a teenager in High Road, at 5.20pm on Tuesday July 8. 'Officers arrived quickly and arrested a man. 'As a result of the work of officers, offences against a woman and another teenager, which were separate to those which had taken place on Tuesday, were then reported for the first time and an investigation was launched.' Kebatu was remanded in custody after a hearing at Colchester Magistrates' Court on Thursday. He denies any wrongdoing. Following Kebatu's arrest, the district's Conservative leader wrote to the Home Secretary calling for The Bell Hotel's closure 'without delay'. Essex Police will continue to have a presence in the area for the coming days, a spokesman for the force said. Speaking after the protest broke up, Superintendent Tim Tubbs said: 'We respect everyone's right to protest, and we police without fear of favour – these are important fundamentals of our work when it comes to public order. 'We'll be working with all our partner agencies in the coming days to hear their thoughts and establish how we can provide the most effective police response for events like this in the future. 'As with all our policing of public events such as protests, we will review any body-worn video to ensure any offences are detected.' Chris Whitbread, the leader of Epping Forest District Council, insisted the authority had 'consistently and repeatedly opposed' the use of the The Bell as a migrant hotel. 'From the outset, we warned the Home Office that this site is entirely inappropriate,' the council chief said in a statement. 'Placing vulnerable individuals from a wide range of cultural backgrounds into an unsupervised setting, in the centre of a small town, without the proper infrastructure, support or services, is both reckless and unacceptable. 'It puts pressure on local services, causes understandable concern for residents, and is unfair on those placed in the hotel. 'The Home Office must now face the reality of the situation. The Bell Hotel must be closed without delay. Our warnings have been ignored for too long.' The council boss has set up a petition calling for the closure of The Bell Hotel - as well as the Phoenix Hotel in Bobbingworth, which also accommodates migrants. It has has received more than 4,500 signatures. The petition says: 'We are also deeply concerned about rising community tensions. Epping Forest has a history of extreme far-right activity, including the presence of groups such as the Homeland Party and previously elected British National Party councillors. 'The Government's inaction risks fuelling division and undermining community cohesion. Our community feels ignored and let down. Epping Forest has been forced to carry an unfair burden in the ongoing illegal immigration crisis.'
