Bedouin civilians leave Sweida as Syria truce holds

West Australian

a day ago

Hundreds of Bedouin civilians have left Syria's predominantly Druze city of Sweida as part of a US-backed truce meant to end days of bloodshed in southern Syria, state media and witnesses say.
With hundreds reported killed, the violence in the southern province of Sweida has posed a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, drawing Israeli air strikes last week and deepening fissures in a country fractured by 14 years of war.
A ceasefire took hold on Sunday as interior ministry security forces deployed on Sweida's outskirts.
Interior Minister Anas Khattab said on Sunday the truce would allow for the release of hostages and detainees held by the sides.
The fighting began a week ago, pitting Druze fighters who distrust the jihadist-led government against Sunni Muslim Bedouin.
Syria's central government sent troops to quell the fighting but they were drawn into the violence and accused of widespread violations against Druze.
Sharaa has blamed the violence on "outlaw groups" and promised to protect the rights of Druze - a minority group whose faith is deemed heretical by some hardline Muslims.
Calling the Druze a fundamental part of Syria's fabric, Sharaa has vowed to hold to account those who committed violations against them.
Details of last week's violence are still emerging.
Ali al-Huraym, a 56-year-old Bedouin man, said six members of his extended family had been killed by Druze fighters in an attack on the town of Shahba, 15km north of Sweida, on Thursday.
Speaking to Reuters at a school sheltering displaced Bedouin in Daraa province, he said Druze elders had assured them they would be safe in Shahba but the attacking Druze faction had ignored their instructions.
He accused the Druze faction of trying to drive Sunni tribes from the area.
Salem al-Mahdi, 60, another Bedouin displaced from Shahba with his family, told Reuters he saw six bodies in one home there and the town had been hit with weapons including mortars.
Speaking to Reuters by phone, Luna Albassit, a Druze activist in Shahba, said the situation after so much bloodshed remained tense despite the end to clashes.
"People were killed in the streets, in their homes, they were humiliated and it was in the name of the state," she said, referring to attacks by government-aligned forces.
Reuters could not independently verify the accounts.
On Monday morning, ambulances, trucks and buses ferried hundreds of Bedouin civilians including women, children and wounded people out of Sweida to nearby displacement camps, Reuters footage showed.
The initial batch included about 300 Bedouins, and a second group of about 550 civilians will be relocated within the next 24 hours if the situation remains calm, said Shoaib Asfour, a member of the Syrian security forces overseeing the process.
The next phase would involve the relocation of Bedouin fighters detained by Druze militias and the transfer of bodies of Bedouins killed in the fighting, Asfour said.
Syria's state news agency said a total of 1500 Bedouins would leave Sweida city.
Citing Ahmed al-Dalati, head of Syria's internal security forces in Sweida, state media said those forces would also facilitate the return to Sweida of others displaced from it.
According to the United Nations, at least 93,000 people have been uprooted by the fighting.