Syrian government says it's deploying forces to restive south after week of violence
Clashes between Druze groups and Bedouin tribes have continued in Suwayda since last week, threatening the stability of the government in Damascus as it tries to exert control over Syria's complex and volatile sectarian landscape.
The violence prompted Israel to carry out strikes against Syrian government forces, which it said were to protect the Druze, who are a significant minority in both countries. Israel has also expressed alarm about the new Islamist-led government in Syria despite contacts between the two on ensuring security.
There were reports of sporadic violence continuing Saturday. Both Bedouin and Druze groups issued statements indicating they were prepared to accept the ceasefire, but one Druze faction then demanded that Bedouin leave Suwayda
Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Dean Baba said that 'Following the bloody events caused by outlaw groups… Internal Security Forces have begun deploying in Suwayda province as part of a national mission with the primary goal of protecting civilians and restoring order.'
A short while later, Syria's presidency declared what it called an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in the province, calling on everyone to allow the state 'to implement this ceasefire responsibly, ensuring stability and halting the bloodshed.'
In a televised statement Saturday, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said that events in Suwayda had 'marked a dangerous turning point in Syria's security and political landscape.'
Al-Sharaa also referred to the Israeli airstrikes in Suwayda and Damascus last week, which he said had 'reignited tensions, pushing the country into a critical phase that now threatens its stability.'
Referring to Israeli support for some Druze groups in Suwayda, al-Sharaa said that 'some figures, emboldened by foreign support, have shown separatist ambitions and led armed groups that committed acts of killing and abuse.'
He again pledged to protect the Druze, who have been wary of his government, and called for national unity.
'Syria is not a playground for separatism or sectarian incitement. Now more than ever, it is essential to return to the path of reason and come together on a unified national foundation,' al Sharaa said.
After US mediation aimed at ending the violence and halting Israeli airstrikes, al-Sharaa thanked the Trump administration for its 'commitment to the country's stability.'
Al-Sharaa's statement followed the announcement late Friday by the US envoy to Syria, Thomas Barrack, that Syria and Israel had agreed to a new ceasefire in Suwayda.
Geolocated video from the city of Suwayda early Saturday showed columns of dark smoke rising and the sound of sporadic gunfire. But Druze and Bedouin groups indicated they would accept the ceasefire once government forces were deployed.
Bedouin groups represented by the Southern Tribes Gathering said they were declaring 'an immediate and comprehensive cessation of all military actions,' and called for 'channels for dialogue and coordination to ensure that what happened does not recur.'
One Druze group heavily involved in the clashes said Saturday that it was ready to accept a ceasefire. The Spiritual Leadership faction, led by Hikmat al-Hijri, said it was renewing a call to 'return to our shared humanity.'
But al-Hijri, who had rejected a previous ceasefire, later demanded that Syrian security forces should only be deployed at the border of the province, and called for Bedouin to leave the province altogether.
The Israeli government has insisted that Suwayda should be a demilitarized zone out of bounds to government forces.
But amid the ongoing violence Israel said Friday that it would allow a limited presence of internal security forces to restore order in Suwayda.
On Friday, the Syrian Network for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of at least 321 people in Suwayda since last Sunday, when clashes began. It said there had been 'extrajudicial killings, mutual shelling, as well as airstrikes carried out by Israeli occupation forces.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
24 minutes ago
- The Hill
More than 1,400 killed in sectarian violence in coastal Syria in March, report finds
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — More than 1,400 people were killed in several days of sectarian violence on Syria 's coast earlier this year, a government investigating committee said Tuesday. The violence followed the ouster of longtime President Bashar Assad in December. The inquiry said there was no evidence that Syria's new military leaders ordered attacks on the Alawite community there, to which Assad belonged. Nearly 300 people suspected of committing crimes, including murder, robbery, torture and looting and burning of homes and businesses, were identified during the four-month investigation and referred for prosecution, and 37 people have been arrested, officials said, without disclosing how many suspects were members of the security forces. The committee's report came as Syria reels from a new round of sectarian violence in the south, which threatens to upend the country's fragile recovery after nearly 14 years of civil war. 'Revenge, not ideology' The coastal violence began on March 6 when armed groups loyal to Assad attacked security forces of the new government, killing 238, the committee said. In response, security forces descended on the coast from other areas of the country, joined by thousands of armed civilians. In total, some 200,000 armed men mobilized, the committee said. As they entered neighborhoods and villages, some — including members of military factions — committed 'widespread, serious violations against civilians,' committee spokesperson Yasser al-Farhan said. In some cases, armed men asked civilians whether they belonged to the Alawite sect and 'committed violations based on this,' he said. The committee, however, found that the 'sectarian motives were mostly based on revenge, not ideology,' he said. Judge Jumaa al-Anzi, the committee's chair, said: 'We have no evidence that the (military) leaders gave orders to commit violations.' He also said investigators had not received reports of girls or women being kidnapped. Some rights groups, including a United Nations commission, have documented cases of Alawite women being kidnapped in the months since the violence. There also have been scattered reports of Alawites being killed, robbed and extorted since then. Tens of thousands of members of the minority sect have fled to neighboring Lebanon. Hundreds killed Echoes of the coastal violence resonated in the new clashes in southern Sweida province over the past two weeks. Those clashes broke out between Sunni Muslim Bedouin clans and armed groups of the Druze religious minority, and government security forces who intervened to restore order ended up siding with the Bedouins. Members of the security forces allegedly killed Druze civilians and looted and burned homes. Druze armed groups launched revenge attacks on Bedouin communities. Hundreds have been killed, and the U.N. says more than 130,000 people have been displaced. The violence has largely stopped as a ceasefire takes told. The committee chair said the violence in Sweida is 'painful for all Syrians' but 'beyond the jurisdiction' of his committee. 'Time will reveal what happened and who is responsible for it,' he said. Grim scenes in Sweida The head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, Mohammed Hazem Baqleh, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the situation in the city of Sweida was grim, particularly in the main hospital, where some 300 bodies piled up during the clashes. The city had been almost entirely cut off from supplies during the two-week fighting. A Red Crescent team worked with the hospital's forensics to document the dead and prepare them for burial, he said. Baqleh said that with electricity and water largely cut off during the fighting, 'there is a significant shortage of materials and a shortage of human resources' in the hospital. 'The markets, in general, were closed and services have almost completely stopped' during the fighting, he said. The Red Crescent brought in one aid convoy on Sunday, the first to enter the city since the violence started, and is preparing to send another on Wednesday carrying some 66 tons of flour, along with other foodstuffs, fuel and medical items, Baqleh said. The group was registering names of civilians who want to leave the city to give them safe passage out, he said. During the fighting, Red Crescent teams came under attack. One of their vehicles was shot at, and a warehouse burned down after being hit by shelling, he said. Convoy of families evacuated Evacuation of Bedouin families from Druze-majority areas has already begun. Syrian state media on Sunday said the government had coordinated with officials in Sweida to bring buses to evacuate some 1,500 Bedouins. Many of them are now staying in crowded shelters in neighboring Daraa province. Security forces were manning checkpoints on the roads leading into Sweida city Tuesday and prevented groups of Bedouin fighters from approaching the city, AP photographers at the scene said. Late in the evening, state-run news agency SANA reported that a convoy of families was evacuated from Sweida, escorted by Syrian Red Crescent and Syrian Civil Defense teams. Some worried that the displacement for those who leave will become permanent, a familiar scenario from the days of Syria's civil war. Human Rights Watch said in a statement Tuesday that 'while officials have said the relocation is temporary, concerns remain that these families may be unable to safely return without clear guarantees.' Sweida's provincial governor, Mustafa al-Bakour, reiterated promises that the displacement will not be long term. 'There can be no permanent displacement in Syria,' he told The Associated Press. 'Nobody will accept to leave the house his lives in and was raised in, except as a temporary solution until things calm down.' Human Rights Watch said that all parties in the conflict had reportedly committed 'serious abuses' and that the violence had also 'ignited sectarian hate speech and the risk of reprisals against Druze communities across the country.'
News24
25 minutes ago
- News24
South Syria violence deepens fears among minorities
More than 1 200 people have been killed in Syria's Druze-majority Sweida amid intercommunal clashes, exposing sectarian tension and government weaknesses. Damascus aligned with Sunni tribes against the Druze, prompting Israeli airstrikes and a US-brokered ceasefire amid escalated violence. Minority fears rise as Druze resist disarmament, echoing broader struggles for government control and Kurdish autonomy negotiations. A surge of violence in southern Syria has exacerbated fears among minority communities and exposed what analysts say is the Damascus authorities' intent to rein in the Druze population. More than 1 200 people were killed in a week-long outbreak of intercommunal clashes in Sweida province, a Druze-majority region, further casting doubt on the new Islamist government's capacity to manage sectarian tensions. The week-long clashes in the Druze-majority Sweida province further raised doubts about the new government's ability to handle intercommunal issues in the diverse and war-scarred nation. Damascus has "opened the Pandora's box of intercommunal violence", Syria expert Fabrice Balanche said. What next for Sweida's Druze? The clashes initially involved Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes, but government forces intervened on the side of the latter, according to witnesses, experts and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. READ | Syria's Sharaa vows to protect Druze as truce strained by Bedouin offensive Jamal Mansur, a comparative politics researcher specialising in Syrian and Israeli studies at the University of Toronto, said he believed interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa made "a huge mistake" by "trying to subdue the Druze" and in using the tribes, who are part of his popular base, to do so. Balanche, a lecturer at the University of Lyon 2, said it was "easy to mobilise tribes against the Druze, but then how do you get them to fall in line?" Israel, which says it wants to protect the Druze and has demanded a demilitarised southern Syria, struck the presidential palace and the Syrian army headquarters in Damascus to force government troops to withdraw from Sweida. The United States then announced a ceasefire between Syria and Israel, which allowed government forces to deploy to Sweida province but not the city, which remained under the control of various Druze groups. READ | Bodies wait to be identified at overwhelmed hospital in Syria's Sweida Those groups are now surrounded by areas controlled by government forces and their tribal allies across the province, where sporadic clashes are still taking place. Damascus was previously negotiating the integration of Druze fighters into its ranks, but the clashes, during which large-scale abuses were committed, could prompt the Druze to refuse to hand over their weapons. Sharaa "has two options: either he obstinately continues trying to subdue the Druze", or he backtracks, said Mansur. What happened during previous violence? The bloodshed in the south followed sectarian massacres in March in coastal Syria, in which 1 700 people, mostly Alawite civilians, were killed according to the Observatory. Overthrown Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is an Alawite, and the sect was long associated with the brutal rule of Assad and his father. Security forces, allied armed groups, and foreign jihadists were implicated in March's killings. A national commission of inquiry formed by the authorities on Tuesday said it had verified serious violations leading to the deaths of 1 426 people, mostly civilians, and identified 298 suspects. Sweida was "a repeat of the same scenario: the desire to subjugate minorities, but unlike on the coast, the Druze are well armed and protected by Israel," said Balanche. Christians, Syria's other significant minority group, also live in fear following several threats and the bombing of a Damascus church in June, which killed 25 people. Syrian authorities blamed the Islamic State group, but a shadowy jihadist organisation claimed responsibility. What about the Kurds? The greatest challenge facing Damascus in its attempt to assert its authority across all of Syrian territory remains the Kurds, who control swathes of the northeast. Kurdish officials have been negotiating with Syrian leaders to have their civil and military institutions, including the powerful US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, integrated into the Syrian state. Following the Sweida violence, senior Kurdish official Bedran Ciya Kurd called on Syria's authorities to review their approach to the country's minorities as a whole. The deadly clashes had "already impacted (Sharaa's) negotiating situation with the Kurds", said Mansur of the University of Toronto. Washington, the SDF's main backer, had previously pushed the Kurds to make concessions to the Syrian government. Now, the US "need (sic) to listen to the Kurds", said Mansur.
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
American man from Oklahoma 'brutally executed' by Syrian-backed jihadis
Syrian jihadists reportedly executed a 35-year-old Syrian American – a member of the religious minority Druze community – last week as government-backed forces viciously attacked members of the Druze community in the country. The State Department confirmed on Tuesday to Fox News Digital that an American, who has been identified as Hosam Saraya from Oklahoma, was killed in Syria. A State Department spokesperson said, "Time and time again, Secretary Rubio has emphasized the importance of prioritizing the safety and security of U.S. citizens. We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in the Sweida region of Syria last week. We offer condolences to the family on their loss and are providing consular assistance to them." Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla, wrote on X, "Hosam was an Oklahoman and member of the Druze community who was tragically executed alongside other members of his family in Syria. We are praying for his family, friends, and the entire community as they grieve this senseless loss." Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla, wrote on X that an "American citizen from Oklahoma" was "brutally executed alongside his family members in Syria," adding, "I'm working with partners in the region to learn more, and we're in touch with @GovStitt on this devastating situation. Our prayers are with the family at this time." President Ahmed Al-Sharaa had reportedly taken the side of the jihadi-influenced Bedouin tribes who executed Druze residents in southern Syria, declaring they carried out "heroic actions." Al-Sharaa, who used a nom de guerre "Abu Mohammed al-Golani," was on the FBI's Most Wanted List from 2013 through 2024 for his role in terrorism. Critics accuse al-Sharaa of seeking to violently repress the struggling ethnic and religious minority populations in Syria – Christians, Druze, and Kruds. Last week Israel launched military strikes against the jihadi forces on their way to the southern city of Sweida, where there is a large Druze population, to stop the massacre. Israel also attacked the Syrian Defense headquarters in Damascus to halt the bloodshed in Sweida. An Israel Defense Force spokesman told Fox News Digital during a Zoom call that it "learned its lesson" from the Hamas invasion of the Jewish state in 2023 and has two goals in southern Syria: border security and the rescue of Syrian Druze. The bulk of the world's Druze community lives in Syria. There are also sizable Druze populations in Israel and Lebanon. Arizona GOP Congressman Abe Hamadeh, who is of Druze background, told Fox News Digital, "The barbaric violence against the Druze community in Syria must end immediately. Under the bold leadership of President Donald J. Trump, Secretary Rubio, and Ambassador Barrack, the United States took bold steps to ease sanctions and extend goodwill to the Syrian government and its people in the hope of seeing real reforms." Hamadeh, whose mother is from Sweida, added, "Now is the time for the Syrian government to turn their words into real actions, if they want to maintain legitimacy: restore order, protect all of its citizens, and demonstrate a genuine commitment to peace and long-term stability. The only way is to build a new Syria that is reflective of its ethnic and religious mosaic. The United States wants Syria to succeed, but bloodshed, senseless violence, and division is not the path forward." The Arizona congressman said, "My staff and I are engaged in interagency efforts to ascertain what is, and is not, happening on the ground in Syria amid the fog of this conflict. We will not rest until all American remains and victims are returned. Justice and accountability must be served. We are praying for the victims and for peace." Al-Sharaa's rule since he toppled the pro-Iran regime of Bashar al-Assad in December has experienced massacres of Alawites, Christian and Druze. Critics argue that Al-Sharaa refuses to rope in the jihadi forces who seek to impose a Taliban-style rule on Syria. After Al-Sharaa's forces executed Syrian Christians in March, Rev. Johnnie Moore, the president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, told Fox News Digital: "This is a warning that the Syrian government is not ready for prime time if it can't protect a handful of vulnerable Christians who had absolutely nothing to do with this violence except being its victims," The death toll involving the clashes between Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters, which includes government forces and Israel, topped 1,000, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Washington helped implement a fragile ceasefire. SOHR noted, "Reaching an agreement including ceasefire and sponsored by Washington coincided with threats to keep Syria on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, in case that the agreement's terms were violated."
