logo
Clashes continue in Sweida as ceasefire struggles to hold

Clashes continue in Sweida as ceasefire struggles to hold

Euronews5 days ago
Clashes continued in Sweida late on Saturday, despite a ceasefire declaration that had been announced earlier in the day.
Government forces were redeployed on Saturday to Sweida to halt the renewed fighting that had erupted late Thursday.
Shortly after the announcement, Syria's interior ministry said the fighting had stopped and that Sweida had been cleared of Bedouin tribal fighters. However, several clashes were reported to have taken place in the predominantly Druze region of Sweida.
Clashes began last Sunday between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes in Syria's southern Sweida province. Government forces intervened, nominally to restore order, but ended up taking the Bedouins' side against the Druze.
On Thursday, government forces largely withdrew from the southern province of Sweida, a day after Israel launched several strikes on Damascus, citing a need to protect the Druze community.
However, shortly after, state media reported that Druze militants had launched retaliatory attacks on the Bedouin communities.
In his second televised address since the fighting started, al-Sharaa blamed the conflict's escalation between 'lawless groups on one side and Bedouin communities on the other, leading to an unprecedented deterioration of the situation."
He had urged all parties to "fully commit" to the ceasefire.
"Everyone must understand that this moment requires unity and full cooperation in order to overcome the hardships we all face and to protect our country and land from foreign interference and internal strife," he said on Saturday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights report at least 940 people have been killed since clashes erupted on Sunday. Meanwhile, the UN estimated that roughly 80,000 people have been displaced.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

More than 100,000 flee as Thailand-Cambodia border clashes escalate
More than 100,000 flee as Thailand-Cambodia border clashes escalate

France 24

time36 minutes ago

  • France 24

More than 100,000 flee as Thailand-Cambodia border clashes escalate

More than 100,000 people have fled the bloodiest border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia in a decade, Bangkok said Friday, as the death toll rose and international powers urged a halt to hostilities. A long-running border dispute erupted into intense fighting with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on Thursday, and the UN Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis later Friday. The Thai interior ministry said more than 100,000 people from four border provinces had been moved to nearly 300 temporary shelters, while the kingdom's health ministry announced that the death toll had risen to 14 -- 13 civilians and one soldier. In the Cambodian town of Samraong, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the border, AFP journalists reported hearing distant artillery fire on Friday morning. As the guns started up, some families packed their children and belongings into vehicles and sped away. "I live very close to the border. We are scared because they began shooting again at about 6:00 am," Pro Bak, 41, told AFP. He was taking his wife and children to a Buddhist temple to seek refuge. "I don't know when we could return home," he said. AFP journalists also saw soldiers rushing to man rocket launchers and speeding off towards the frontier. Calls for calm The fighting marks a dramatic escalation in a long-running dispute between the neighbours -- both popular destinations for millions of foreign tourists -- over their shared 800-kilometre (500-mile) frontier. Dozens of kilometres in several areas are contested and fighting broke out between 2008 and 2011, leaving at least 28 people dead and tens of thousands displaced. A UN court ruling in 2013 settled the matter for over a decade, but the current crisis erupted in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a new clash. Fighting on Thursday was focused on six locations, according to the Thai army, including around two ancient temples. Ground troops backed up by tanks battled for control of territory, while Cambodia fired rockets and shells into Thailand and the Thais scrambled F-16 jets to hit military targets across the border. 04:06 Both sides blamed each other for firing first, while Thailand accused Cambodia of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital hit by shells and a petrol station hit by at least one rocket. Thursday's clashes came hours after Thailand expelled the Cambodian ambassador and recalled its own envoy after five members of a Thai military patrol were wounded by a landmine. Cambodia downgraded ties to "the lowest level" on Thursday, pulling out all but one of its diplomats and expelling their Thai equivalents from Phnom Penh. At the request of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, the UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the deadly clashes, diplomatic sources told AFP. The United States urged an "immediate" end to the conflict, while Cambodia's former colonial ruler France made a similar call. The EU and China -- a close ally of Phnom Penh -- said they were "deeply concerned" about the clashes, calling for dialogue.

Thailand says over 100,000 civilians flee clashes with Cambodia
Thailand says over 100,000 civilians flee clashes with Cambodia

France 24

time2 hours ago

  • France 24

Thailand says over 100,000 civilians flee clashes with Cambodia

A long-running border dispute erupted into intense fighting with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on Thursday, and the UN Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis later Friday. The Thai interior ministry said more than 100,000 people from four border provinces had been moved to nearly 300 temporary shelters, while the kingdom's health ministry announced that the death toll had risen to 14 -- 13 civilians and one soldier. In the Cambodian town of Samraong, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the border, AFP journalists reported hearing distant artillery fire on Friday morning. As the guns started up, some families packed their children and belongings into vehicles and sped away. "I live very close to the border. We are scared because they began shooting again at about 6:00 am," Pro Bak, 41, told AFP. He was taking his wife and children to a Buddhist temple to seek refuge. "I don't know when we could return home," he said. AFP journalists also saw soldiers rushing to man rocket launchers and speeding off towards the frontier. Calls for calm The fighting marks a dramatic escalation in a long-running dispute between the neighbours -- both popular destinations for millions of foreign tourists -- over their shared 800-kilometre (500-mile) frontier. Dozens of kilometres in several areas are contested and fighting broke out between 2008 and 2011, leaving at least 28 people dead and tens of thousands displaced. A UN court ruling in 2013 settled the matter for over a decade, but the current crisis erupted in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a new clash. Fighting on Thursday was focused on six locations, according to the Thai army, including around two ancient temples. Ground troops backed up by tanks battled for control of territory, while Cambodia fired rockets and shells into Thailand and the Thais scrambled F-16 jets to hit military targets across the border. Both sides blamed each other for firing first, while Thailand accused Cambodia of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital hit by shells and a petrol station hit by at least one rocket. Thursday's clashes came hours after Thailand expelled the Cambodian ambassador and recalled its own envoy after five members of a Thai military patrol were wounded by a landmine. Cambodia downgraded ties to "the lowest level" on Thursday, pulling out all but one of its diplomats and expelling their Thai equivalents from Phnom Penh. At the request of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, the UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the deadly clashes, diplomatic sources told AFP. The United States urged an "immediate" end to the conflict, while Cambodia's former colonial ruler France made a similar call. The EU and China -- a close ally of Phnom Penh -- said they were "deeply concerned" about the clashes, calling for dialogue. burs-pdw/tym © 2025 AFP

Why are Gazans not getting sorely needed aid?
Why are Gazans not getting sorely needed aid?

France 24

time7 hours ago

  • France 24

Why are Gazans not getting sorely needed aid?

UN agencies and aid organisations cite Israeli restrictions, safety issues and the establishment of a US- and Israeli-backed mechanism that has sidelined the humanitarian system in place. Israel says international organisations have failed, and that the previous UN-led system had allowed Hamas militants to loot aid trucks. On the ground, meanwhile, more than 100 aid and human rights groups warned this week that "mass starvation" was spreading. GHF: few sites, deadly incidents Israel's chosen aid distributor, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), began operations on May 26 after a more than two-month total aid blockade. Now the main channel for distributing food to Gaza's more than two million people, GHF has faced chaos and deadly violence at its few distribution points. The United Nations and aid groups have refused to work with GHF, saying it was created to serve Israeli military interests. "They are not a humanitarian organisation... You don't deliver humanitarian aid in areas that have been completely flattened and militarised," said Arwa Damon, founder of INARA, a US-based NGO offering medical and mental health support to children. She noted the GHF's site locations -- along two military corridors in southern and central Gaza -- rather than being spread out across the territory. With only four GHG sites and huge crowds trying to reach them, there have been repeated reports of deadly fire near them. According to UN figures, Israeli forces have killed some 800 Palestinian aid-seekers near GHF sites since late May. Israel has rejected calls to restore the UN-led system, citing concerns that Hamas looted trucks and resold aid meant to be distributed free of charge. Aid organisations sidelined International aid groups say vast quantities of aid are stockpiled outside Gaza but require Israeli military clearance to enter. Inside Gaza, coordination with the military is also essential, as fighting and air strikes rage on. Damon accused Israel of preventing aid delivery by refusing to coordinate with NGOs to grant safe passage through combat zones. "Getting that coordination approved is incredibly challenging," she told AFP. "Not to mention Israel's lack of willingness to provide humanitarian organisations with a safe route to be able to ensure a secure pickup." The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said on Wednesday it had "thousands of trucks in neighbouring countries waiting to enter Gaza –- banned by Israeli authorities from entering since March". 'Encountered death' for flour Israel screens all goods entering Gaza, but COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body overseeing civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, denies limiting the number of humanitarian trucks. On Thursday it said "around 70 food trucks were unloaded at aid crossings, and over 150 were collected by the UN and international organisations from the Gazan side". But more than 800 trucks remained uncollected, and Israel's military posted footage online of hundreds of trucks loaded with food aid "sitting idle inside Gaza". UN agencies and international NGOs reject Israeli claims that they lack the capacity to distribute food. They note that aid was distributed effectively in the past, including during the last ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war that ended in March. In Khan Yunis, in Gaza's south, resident Yousef Abu Shehla said this week he had "encountered death" to get his hands on a bag of flour for his family. "We shall feed our children even if we die," he told AFP.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store