After Assad's fall, Syria to hold first parliamentary elections
In a recent interview with the Erem News site, another member of the elections committee, Hassan al-Daghim, said an electoral college will be set up in each of Syria's provinces to vote for the elected seats.A temporary constitution signed by al-Sharaa in March called for a People's Committee to be set up to serve as an interim parliament until a permanent constitution is adopted and general elections held, a process that could take years.The announcement of impending elections comes at a time when the country is increasingly divided in its views of the new authorities in Damascus after sectarian violence broke out in the southern province of Sweida earlier this month. The fighting killed hundreds of people and threatened to unravel Syria's fragile postwar transition.The violent clashes, which broke out two weeks ago, were sparked by tit-for-tat kidnappings between armed Bedouin clans and fighters from the Druze religious minority.Syrian government forces intervened, ostensibly to end the fighting, but effectively sided with the clans. Some government fighters reportedly executed Druze civilians and burned and looted houses. Israel intervened, launching airstrikes on government forces and on the Defense Ministry headquarters. Israel said it was acting to defend the Druze minority.- Ends
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The Hindu
7 hours ago
- The Hindu
Protesters in Syria's Druze heartland demand govt forces withdraw
Hundreds gathered in Syria's Druze heartland on Friday to demand the withdrawal of government forces after deadly sectarian violence last month and the opening of an aid corridor from neighbouring Jordan. Sweida province has seen tough humanitarian conditions since week-long clashes killed around 1,400 people last month, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The United Nations says more than 175,000 displaced people have yet to return to their homes. The violence initially pitted Druze fighters against local Sunni Bedouin tribes but rapidly escalated, drawing in Syrian government forces as well as Israel, which bombed them. The Islamist-led interim government said its forces intervened to stop the clashes, but witnesses, Druze factions and the Observatory accused them of siding with the Bedouin and of committing abuses including summary executions. Dozens of protesters, including women and children, gathered in a main square in Sweida, holding placards calling for the opening of a humanitarian corridor from Jordan, an AFP photographer said. Similar protests were held in other Druze towns, according to the Observatory, a Britain-based monitoring group. The government has deployed forces to several parts of Sweida province but not to the provincial capital. Residents accuse them of imposing a blockade, a claim the government has denied, instead blaming "outlaw groups", in reference to Druze fighters. Activist Rawan Abu Assaf said protesters' demands included "lifting the blockade imposed on Sweida province and the withdrawal of government forces from all its villages". The Observatory said the main Damascus-Sweida highway was still cut and accused armed groups linked to the government of blocking the resumption of normal trade. The monitor said the province was under de facto blockade despite the entry of several aid convoys. Interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said the convoys gave the lie to Druze claims of a blockade. But the Observatory said the government was just keeping up appearances for the international community. UN humanitarian coordinator Adam Abdelmoula said on Thursday that the United Nations and its partners had sent a new convoy to Sweida province, with 40 trucks carrying "a broad range of life-saving assistance" including food, water and medical supplies. He called it "a significant step toward expanding access and scaling up the humanitarian response in affected areas of southern Syria".
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First Post
17 hours ago
- First Post
Syria forms panel to probe Druze-Sunni communal clashes in Sweida
The panel comes amid ongoing efforts by the post-Assad government to stabilise the country and address sectarian tensions that have plagued it since the 2011 uprising. read more A drone view shows the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, following deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes and government forces, in Syria. File image/ Reuters Syria has promised to look into clashes that killed hundreds of people in the southern province of Sweida last month. This was the second significant instance of sectarian violence since Bashar al-Assad, the long-time leader of Syria, was overthrown. In a July 31 decree, Justice Minister Muzher al-Wais stated that a seven-member commission of judges, attorneys, and a military official would investigate the circumstances surrounding the 'events in Sweida' and provide a report in three months. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The committee would look into allegations of assaults and other mistreatment of civilians and report anyone found to have taken part in such actions to the legal system. The conflict in Sweida began on July 13 between tribal warriors and Druze factions. The conflict escalated despite the deployment of government forces to stop it, and Israel launched attacks on Syrian troops in the name of the Druze. A minority branch of Islam, the Druze have followers in Israel, Syria, and Lebanon. Although Sunni tribes and Druze make up the majority of the population in Sweida province, there have long been conflicts between the groups over land and other resources. The violence, which had raged in Sweida city and adjacent towns for almost a week, came to an end with a truce mediated by the United States. In March, hundreds of Alawite civilians were killed after government-aligned forces deployed to Syria's coastal areas following a deadly attack on new government forces by militias still aligned with Assad, who hails from the Alawite minority. Assad's brutal crackdown on protests against him in 2011 from within Syria's Sunni majority spiralled into a nearly 14-year war. Western leaders are keen to ensure the new government, led by a former Sunni Islamist group that has its roots in global jihad, conducts an orderly democratic transition. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The fact-finding committee established after the March killings last month referred 298 people suspected of carrying out abuses against Alawites to the judiciary. The committee said it found no evidence of commanders ordering troops to commit violations and that 265 people had been involved in the initial attack on government forces.
The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
Syria's new authorities set up committee to probe attacks on civilians in recent sectarian violence
Syria's new authorities have set up a committee tasked with investigating attacks on civilians during recent sectarian violence in the country's south, officials said Thursday (July 30, 2025). The fighting in Sweida province earlier in July killed hundreds of people, displaced tens of thousands, and threatened to unravel Syria's fragile postwar transition. Editorial | Sectarian wounds: On the violence in Syria It was sparked by tit-for-tat kidnappings between armed Bedouin clans, mostly Sunni, and fighters with the Druze religious minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Syrian government forces intervened to end the fighting, but effectively sided with the clans. Disturbing videos and reports soon surfaced of Druze civilians being humiliated and killed in public, sometimes accompanied by sectarian slurs. Druze groups later launched revenge attacks on Bedouin communities. Syria's Justice Ministry said the committee would work to uncover the 'circumstances that led to the events in Sweida', investigate attacks and refer those implicated in them to the judiciary, state-run news agency SANA reported. The committee is to submit a final report within three months. A similar committee was formed in March, when sectarian violence on Syria's coast killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority, also a Shiite offshoot. Attacks by armed groups affiliated with former President Bashar Assad, a member of the Alawite minority, prompted Damascus to send security forces, which descended on the coast from other areas of the country, joined by thousands of armed civilians. Also read: With one hand on gun and the other on a camera, Syrian attackers killed Druze That committee found there had been 'widespread, serious violations against civilians,' including by members of Syria's new security forces and that more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, were killed. Its four-month investigation identified 300 people suspected of crimes, including murder, robbery, torture and looting and burning of homes and businesses. The suspects were referred for prosecution, the committee said but did not disclose how many were members of the security forces. The outbreaks of violence have left Syria's religious and ethnic minorities increasingly suspicious of the country's new authorities, led by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who previously led the Islamist insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
