30 killed, 100 injured in sectarian clashes in Syria's Sweida
In a report by Reuters, the clashes erupted following a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday along the highway connecting Damascus to Sweida, according to witnesses.
The ministry said its forces will begin direct intervention in Sweida to resolve the conflict, calling on local parties in the Druze city to cooperate with the security forces.
Unlike similar clashes last April — which involved Bedouin fighters and armed Druze residents in Jaramana, southeast of Damascus and later spread to other districts — this is the first time fighting has broken out inside Sweida itself, the provincial capital of the mostly Druze region.
'This is the first time sectarian fighting has erupted within the city of Sweida. The cycle of violence has exploded in a terrifying way, and if it doesn't end soon, we are heading toward a bloodbath,' said Rayan Marouf, a Druze researcher based in Sweida who runs the Suwayda24 news platform.
The fighting centered in the Maqwas neighbourhood, east of Sweida, which is home to several Bedouin families. The area was reportedly surrounded and later seized by armed Druze groups.
Meanwhile, Bedouin tribesmen launched attacks on Druze villages on the western and northern outskirts of the city, residents said.
A medical source at Sweida's state hospital confirmed that at least 15 bodies had been brought to the morgue. Around 50 others were injured, with some transferred to the nearby city of Deraa for treatment.
The violence marks the latest in a series of sectarian flashpoints in Syria, where tensions among minority communities have remained high since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December and the rise of new governing authorities. Those concerns have intensified following the killings of hundreds of Alawites in March.
This was the deadliest sectarian flare-up in years in Sweida and one of the most violent episodes since the end of Syria's civil war last December.
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The National
3 hours ago
- The National
Aid convoys enter Syria's Sweida after week of bloody clashes
The first humanitarian convoy entered the Druze-majority city of Sweida in southern Syria on Sunday, after a week of deadly clashes. A fragile ceasefire appeared to be holding after Druze fighters reasserted control of their heartland of Sweida city and government troops were sent to the province. Suwayda 24, a network of citizen journalists, said Syrian Red Crescent convoys had entered the city. 'It's the first convoy to enter after the recent events, and it has arrived and is now inside Sweida,' Syrian Red Crescent media and communications official Omar Al Malki told AFP. The aid group had said earlier on Sunday that it dispatched convoys carrying aid to the city that witnessed bloody clashes since Sunday that killed more than 1,000 people, according to UK-base Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The convoy of 32 vehicles was carrying basics including food, medical and fuel supplies as well as body bags, Mr Al Malki said. Residents of Sweida have been holed up in their homes without electricity and water, and food supplies have been scarce. He said the convoy came 'in co-ordination with the government bodies and the local authorities in Sweida', which are controlled by the Druze. 'Sweida experiences cautious calm' The Syrian Foreign Ministry had said that its own convoy of more than 40 lorries was unable to enter Sweida. 'Outlawed armed militias loyal to Hikmat Al Hijri denied the entry of the convoy', the ministry said, referring to one of the most influential Druze religious leaders. Mr Al Hijri welcomed 'all humanitarian aid' and called for a complete end to the clashes. 'Sweida has been experiencing a cautious calm', Sohr said, adding government security troops had blocked roads leading to the province in order to prevent tribal fighters from going there. The monitor, Druze factions and witnesses have accused government troops of taking the side of Bedouin fighters and carrying out executions in the city. A ceasefire announced by Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara on Saturday ended days of sectarian clashes that killed hundreds from both sides. Sources in neighbouring Jordan told The National on Sunday that the violence had subsided considerably, except for in one pocket near a stretch of Road 109 that connects Sweida to the bordering Deraa province. Syria at 'critical juncture' The Interior Ministry said overnight 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. US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said on Sunday that the country stood at a 'critical juncture', adding that 'peace and dialogue must prevail and prevail now'. Mr Barrack had announced a ceasefire between Syria and Israel the day before, after Israeli strikes bombed government troops in Sweida and Damascus in the last week. Israel claims to be protecting the Druze community – which it also hosts and members enrol in the army – but analysts and diplomats have expressed scepticism over Israeli intentions to use the minority to weaken the Syrian government. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday urged the Syrian government's security troops to prevent jihadists from entering and 'carrying out massacres' in the south, and called on Damascus to 'bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks'.
Gulf Today
4 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Syrian govt says fighting in Sweida halted after tribal forces pull out
Fighting in Syria's Sweida "halted" on Sunday, the government said, after the southern city was recaptured by Druze fighters and state forces redeployed to the region where more than 900 people have been killed in sectarian violence. Druze fighters had pushed out rival armed factions from the city on Saturday, a monitor said, after the government ordered a ceasefire following a US-brokered deal to avert further Israeli military intervention. Sweida was "evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city's neighbourhoods were halted", Syria's interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said in a post on Telegram. Israel had bombed government forces in both Sweida and Damascus earlier this week to force their withdrawal after they were accused of summary executions and other abuses against Druze civilians during their brief deployment in the southern province. Syrian security forces deploy in Walga town. AFP More than 900 people have been killed in Sweida since last Sunday as sectarian clashes between the Druze and Bedouin drew in the Islamist-led government, Israel and armed tribes from other parts of Syria. Earlier Saturday, an AFP correspondent saw dozens of torched homes and vehicles and armed men setting fire to shops after looting them. But in the evening, Bassem Fakhr, spokesman for the Men of Dignity, one of the two largest Druze armed groups, told AFP there was "no Bedouin presence in the city". The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor also said "tribal fighters withdrew from Sweida city on Saturday evening" after Druze fighters launched a large-scale attack. Fighting nonetheless persisted in other parts of Sweida province, even as the Druze regained control of their city following days of fierce battle with armed Bedouin supported by tribal gunmen from other parts of Syria. Israel sceptical The deal between the Islamist-government and Israel had been announced by Washington early Saturday. US pointman on Syria Tom Barrack said interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "have agreed to a ceasefire" negotiated by the United States. Bedouin fighters stand at an Internal Security Forces checkpoint. Reuters US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later called on the Syrian government's security forces to prevent jihadists from entering and "carrying out massacres", in a post on X. He also urged the Syrian government to "hold accountable and bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks". Barrack, who is the US ambassador to Ankara, said the deal had the backing of Turkey, a key supporter of Sharaa, as well as neighbouring Jordan. "We call upon Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbours," he wrote on X. Barrack later held a meeting in Amman with the Syrian and Jordanian top diplomats, during which they "agreed on practical steps to support Syria in implementing the agreement", the US envoy said in a later post on X. The US administration, which alongside Turkey and Saudi Arabia has forged ties with the Islamist president despite his past links with Al-Qaeda, was critical of its Israeli ally's recent air strikes on Syria and had sought a way out for Sharaa's government. Bedouin fighters stand together with their weapons. Reuters Sharaa followed up on the US announcement with a televised speech in which he announced an immediate ceasefire in Sweida and renewed his pledge to protect Syria's ethnic and religious minorities. "The Syrian state is committed to protecting all minorities and communities in the country... We condemn all crimes committed" in Sweida, he said. The president paid tribute to the "important role played by the United States, which again showed its support for Syria in these difficult circumstances and its concern for the country's stability". But Israel expressed deep scepticism about Sharaa's renewed pledge to protect minorities, pointing to deadly violence against Alawites as well as Druze since he led the overthrow of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December. In Sharaa's Syria "it is very dangerous to be a member of a minority -- Kurd, Druze, Alawite or Christian", Foreign Minister Gideon Saar posted on X. Humanitarian corridors The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said at least 940 people had been killed in the violence since Sunday. They included 326 Druze fighters and 262 Druze civilians, 165 of whom were summarily executed, according to the Observatory. They also included 312 government security personnel and 21 Sunni Bedouin, three of them civilians who were "summarily executed by Druze fighters". Another 15 government troops were killed in Israeli strikes, the Observatory said. Syria's Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa on Saturday evening said that after the first phase of the ceasefire, which began on Saturday and involved the deployment of security forces to the province, a second phase would see the opening of humanitarian corridors. According to the United Nations, the fighting has displaced least 87,000 people. Agence France-Presse
The National
5 hours ago
- The National
Clashes in Syria's Druze heartland: who are the combatants?
The Druze-majority city of Sweida in southern Syria witnessed a week of heavy clashes coupled with an offensive by pro-government troops. A ceasefire appeared to be holding on Sunday. Sweida is the capital of its province with the same name, which is home to 270,000 Druze, making it the heartland of the sect in Syria. Over the past week, the minority suffered the biggest loss of life since mounting a failed revolt against French colonial rule from 1925 to 1927. Druze sources say that it will take days to find out how many members of the sect were killed, with many civilians killed in their homes in Sweida and surrounding villages. However, the toll could be more than 1,000, the sources said. Hundreds of the attacking forces, composed of regular troops and paramilitary, are estimated to have been killed, many by Israeli air raids. The sect is an offshoot of Islam and the Druze are mainly present in Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Druze resistance emerges Before the attacks on the city on Sunday, about 3,000 Druze militiamen in Sweida were largely under the command of Laith Al Baalous, a Druze figure. Mr Al Baalous had advocated for accommodation with the government, led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, an offshoot of Al Qaeda. The group led the ouster of the regime of former president Bashar Al Assad in December. Sheikh Hikmat Al Hijri, the most prominent in a triumvirate comprising the Druze spiritual leadership, resisted attempts by Mr Al Shara to control Sweida by appointing new security troops in the province, drawn from the ranks of HTS and its allies. However, violence between the government and the Druze broke out first in Damascus, when militia allies of Mr Al Shara attacked Druze residential areas, killing dozens of civilians. The attacks stopped after Israel bombed targets belonging to the Syrian military and its auxiliaries in the capital and its outskirts. Israel said it has been carrying out strikes to defend the Druze community but some political analysts say Israel also wants the central authorities to remain weak. The violence was followed by talks between Druze representatives and Damascus on handing control of Sweida governorate, but Mr Hijri resisted a proposal by Mr Al Shara to post 300 to 500 Druze security personnel allied with the president. During negotiations on readmitting former Druze soldiers into the new army, Mr Al Shara also rejected 2,700 names of out of 3,600 presented by Mr Hijri, according to sources in Jordan who have been following the events. Mr Al Hijri also labelled the Damascus government as extremist and anti-democratic. The stalemate over the admission of HTS-linked security troops to Sweida set the scene for the government offensive, which came after clashes broke out between armed residents of a Sunni Bedouin quarter and Druze gunmen. The clashes where prompted by the abduction of Adlalah Duwara, a vegetable seller and member of the Druze sect, while driving his lorry on the main road from Sweida to Damascus, which is under government control. His tribe responded by abducting a man in a Bedouin Sunni neighbourhood of Sweida, which started a cycle of abduction between the two communities. The scale of attacks and killings during the subsequent government offensive led Druze factions to coalesce around Mr Al Hijri. This newfound unity, however, could be tested if Sweida remains under siege and no supplies reach the city. Sweida's defenders Over the past week, Mr Al Hijri took control over an umbrella organisation of 3,000 fighters in Sweida, called the military council. It has been joined by thousands of Druze residents of the province, many of whom are ex-soldiers who took up arms to defend their homes. Many had acquired weapons from the 15 Division, a unit of the former army that was based in Sweida. 'They are still short of anti-tank weapons,' said one of the sources in Jordan, adding that intimate knowledge of the terrain, as well as Israeli air support had helped the Druze ward off the offensive. Although Israel has not attacked any Syrian targets from the air in the past 24 hours, its drones and other aerial reconnaissance remain posted over the skies of Sweida and over Deraa city, the launch pad of the government attacks, the source said. Attacking forces and their core The thrust of the initial offensive on Sweida last week was carried out by about 14,000 troops and auxiliaries. They were comprised of regular infantry divisions, backed by tank formations and spearheaded by sniper and special operations units. A unit of mostly Uighur foreign fighters, who specialise in penetrating urban defences and are now part of the army, was also posted to the northern outskirts of Sweida. However, Israeli air strikes forced these troops to withdraw from Sweida city to the northern and western countryside. A second wave of attacks started on Saturday, and although the fighting has been framed as being between Bedouin and Druze, regional security sources said government troops were also heavily involved. The new force, one of the sources said, is mostly the same troops who initially attacked Sweida. 'This time, they wore [tribal] robes,' one official said, adding that the government transported thousands of Bedouin in the last several days from Aleppo in the north and Deir Ezzor in the east to the western outskirts of Sweida, but the main combatants, remained government forces. The Bedouin who went to fight in Sweida with government backing belong to the Mawali and Baqqara tribes in Deir Ezzor, as well as the Okeidat tribe in Aleppo. Many members of these tribes had fought on the side of the former Assad regime in the 2011 to 2024 civil war but turned loyal to the new authorities after HTS ousted the former system. 'If authorities in Damascus want to preserve any chance of achieving a unified, inclusive and peaceful Syria … they must help end this calamity by using their security forces to prevent ISIS and any other violent jihadists from entering the area and carrying out massacres,' Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X. After the US warning, issued by Mr Rubio, government troops and their auxiliaries have retreated from a line of villages and towns to the west of Sweida, but remain close by, in the governorate of Deraa. Among their main commanders is Shaher Amran, a security head in Deraa province, Ahmad Dalati, who is in charge of security in Sweida, Mouwafaq Al Dokhi, a Bedouin security official, and an intelligence operative known as Khattab, head of a newly created intelligence unit named Unit 555.
