Syrian authorities evacuate Bedouin civilians from Sweida as fragile truce holds

The National

5 days ago

The Syrian government has evacuated hundreds of Bedouin families from the mostly Druze city of Sweida to Deraa in a bid to prevent further fighting as a fragile ceasefire appears to hold.
A truce ended a week of deadly clashes in Sweida but the city appears to remain under siege, with government troops and auxiliaries surrounding both the city and its rural outskirts.
A Syrian Red Crescent official told The National that the families, many of them from Bedouin backgrounds, were taken in 120 buses to the near by province of Deraa, the launch pad of fierce attacks against Sweida by the government.
The government troops, comprised mainly of Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, an Al Qaeda offshoot, attacked Sweida after the Druze spiritual leader Hikmat Al Hijri refused arrival of security troops last week.
The government sought to send its troops to the city after mutual kidnappings between the Sunnis and the Druze, followed by sectarian clashes.
The aid official said that the Red Crescent is ready to send more aid to Sweida after dozens of lorries reached the city from Damascus on Sunday, carrying mainly flour and basic foods. 'We can provide Sweida with every thing for initial recovery,' he said, declining to say why no more additional supplies were sent since.
Residents of Sweida have been holed up in their homes without electricity and water and food supplies have been scarce.
Khaldoun, a doctor in the main hospital in the city, who did not want to give his last name, said no medical supplies have reached the hospital and that the situation is 'catastrophic', with hundreds of bodies in the hospital and supplies dwindling to treat the wounded.
Under a deal brokered last week by Tom Barrack, the US envoy to Syria, government troops withdrew from Sweida city to its environs. The agreement stipulated a prisoners exchange, safe passage for those in Sweida who wish to leave to do so, and the flow of humanitarian aid, diplomats in Amman said.
The Interior Ministry said on Sunday that Sweida city was 'evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city's neighbourhoods were halted'.
The UN migration agency said more than 128,000 people in Sweida province have been displaced by the violence.