The government announces the end of fighting in Sweida

L'Orient-Le Jour

6 days ago

The Syrian government announced the end of fighting in Sweida on Sunday, after the city was retaken by Druze groups, one week after the outbreak of deadly intercommunal clashes in this southern city.
Violence between Druze and Sunni Bedouin groups, which erupted on July 13 in the Sweida region, has left 940 dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based organization that relies on a vast network of sources across the country.
'Sweida has been cleared of all tribal fighters, and fighting in the city's neighborhoods has ceased,' wrote Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine Al-Baba on Telegram.
Nearly 87,000 people have been displaced by the fighting, according to the International Organization for Migration.
On Saturday, the Syrian government announced a cease-fire in Sweida province and began redeploying forces there in an effort to restore peace.
The government of interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa had already deployed troops to Sweida on Tuesday but withdrew them after Israeli airstrikes targeted several regime positions in Damascus. Israel stated its intent to protect the Druze community and cited the presence of Syrian government forces near its border as a security threat. A cease-fire was later brokered between Syria and Israel under U.S. auspices.
Earlier on Saturday, in one of the city's neighborhoods, tribal fighters — some with masked faces — were seen firing automatic weapons, according to AFP footage.
'Preventing ISIS' from entering the region
One fighter had a black headband inscribed with the Islamic declaration of faith. Another was seen brandishing scissors, used to cut the mustaches of elderly Druze men — a gesture considered a grave insult to this proud warrior community.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Syrian authorities to 'hold accountable and prosecute anyone guilty of atrocities, including within their own ranks.' He also urged them to use 'their security forces to prevent the Islamic State and other violent jihadists from entering the region and committing massacres,' as he posted on the social network X.
The Islamic State group had seized vast territories in Syria and Iraq at the start of the civil war, which began in 2011, and declared a cross-border 'caliphate' in 2014. U.S.-backed Kurdish forces defeated them in 2019, but jihadist cells remain active, particularly in the vast Syrian desert.
Homes set ablaze
On Saturday, an AFP correspondent witnessed dozens of homes and vehicles set on fire, and armed men torching shops after looting them.
'Tribal fighters withdrew from Sweida on Saturday evening' following a Druze counteroffensive, but continued to shell the city, SOHR reported on Saturday.
Ahmad al-Sharaa, who came to power after overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad in December, reiterated his commitment to protecting minorities and praised the 'important role played by the United States, which confirmed its support for Syria.' His Interior Ministry simultaneously announced 'the start of security force deployments in the province of Sweida […] aimed at protecting civilians and ending the chaos.'
France has called on 'all parties' to strictly adhere to the cease-fire announced by Damascus and to 'refrain from any unilateral actions.'
Israel, which claims to be defending the Druze — an esoteric minority sect rooted in Islam — had previously opposed the presence of Syrian government forces in the area.
These latest intercommunal clashes further undermine the fragile authority of Sharaa in a country ravaged by nearly 14 years of civil war. In April, clashes between Druze fighters and security forces near Damascus and Sweida left more than 100 dead. In March, massacres left over 1,700 dead, mostly from the Alawite community — the sect from which Assad hails — following violence in western Syria, according to SOHR.
The Druze community, primarily based in Sweida, numbered around 700,000 people in Syria before the civil war. The community also has significant populations in Lebanon and Israel.