Syrian Government Evacuates Bedouin Families After Deadly Clashes

New York Times

6 days ago

As part of a cease-fire agreement to return calm to the southern Syrian province of Sweida, the Syrian government said it was evacuating hundreds of Bedouin tribal families from the area on Monday after more than a week of deadly clashes.
Also on Monday, the government said it had deployed security forces across the province to secure the area and protect civilians.
More than 1,100 people were killed in eight days of violence, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based organization.
The clashes, between armed groups from Bedouin tribes and the Druse religious minority, erupted earlier this month and renewed fears of widespread sectarian violence and attacks against religious minorities.
The violence also drew in neighboring Israel, which carried out multiple airstrikes on Syrian government targets in the capital, Damascus, saying it was acting to protect the Druse.
On Saturday, the Syrian government announced the cease-fire deal and redeployed forces to Sweida, after briefly withdrawing from the province, to quell renewed clashes between the two sides. A cease-fire deal had been announced on Wednesday, but clashes continued.
In a televised address on Saturday, President Ahmed al-Shara of Syria described the recent bloodshed as a 'dangerous turning point' for his nation.
He said that 'the Israeli intervention has pushed the country into a dangerous phase that poses a threat to its stability.'
The situation remained tense even as Bedouin families left the province in private vehicles and on government buses, as sporadic fighting continued on Monday, according to the Observatory.
The Syrian government said the families who were being evacuated had been trapped in the provincial capital, Sweida. They were being taken to the neighboring province of Daraa.
'We affirm our full commitment to ensuring the exit of all those wishing to leave Sweida Province, and we will provide the possibility of entry to those who wish to do so,' Brig. Gen. Ahmad al-Dalati, a commander with the interior security forces in Sweida, said, according to state media.
General al-Dalati said a security cordon had been imposed around Sweida to secure the area after tribal armed groups from other parts of Syria came to the province to participate in the clashes.
An Interior Ministry spokesman, Noureddine Al-Baba, said that the government was forcing Bedouin families to leave for their own safety because they had become caught up in the violence between the armed groups.
'It had turned them into hostages in their own areas,' Mr. Al-Baba said. 'And it had slowed the movement of government forces on the ground.'
He described the conflict between the Druse and Bedouin tribes in the area as going back decades and revolving around land rights.
Dayana Iwaza contributed reporting.