Latest news with #KhalilAshawi
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Bedouin civilians leave Syria's Sweida as tense truce holds
Members of a group of Bedouin families who left the town of Shahba in Sweida Governorate as part of an agreement between the Syrian government and Druze militants, sit in a school that is used as a shelter centre, in the village of Nahtah in Deraa Governorate, Syria July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi DAMASCUS - Hundreds of Bedouin civilians were evacuated from Syria's predominantly Druze city of Sweida on Monday as part of a U.S.-backed truce meant to end days of bloodshed in southern Syria, state media and witnesses said. 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 airstrikes 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 Islamist-led government against Sunni Muslim Bedouin. Damascus 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 national 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, 15 km (10 miles) 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, without identifying it. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Subsidies and grants for some 20,000 people miscalculated due to processing issue: MOH Asia At least 19 killed as Bangladesh air force plane crashes at college campus Singapore ST Explains: What does it mean for etomidate to be listed under the Misuse of Drugs Act? Business Why Singapore and its businesses stand to lose with US tariffs on the region Singapore NTU introduces compulsory cadaver dissection classes for medical students from 2026 World US authorities probing passenger jet's close call with B-52 bomber over North Dakota Singapore Jail for man who conspired with another to bribe MOH agency employee with $18k Paris trip Singapore New research institute will grow S'pore's talent in nuclear energy, safety 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. In Sweida, footage released by local news outlet Suwayda 24 on Sunday showed what appeared to be numerous body bags in the grounds outside the hospital. The Syrian Network for Human Rights said at least 558 people had been killed in violence in Sweida province since July 13. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported more than 1,000 killed. US ENVOY 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 some 300 Bedouins, and a second group of about 550 civilians will be evacuated within the next 24 hours if the situation remains calm, said Shoaib Asfour, a member of the Syrian security forces overseeing the evacuation. The next phase would see the evacuation 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 1,500 Bedouins would be evacuated from 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. The U.N. said on Sunday that humanitarian convoys with medical supplies had been waiting to enter Sweida for two days but were not granted access. It said only a convoy of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent had been allowed to enter. Citing the goal of protecting the Druze and keeping southern Syria demilitarized, Israel attacked government forces last week in the south and struck the defence ministry in Damascus. Washington, which has expressed support for Damascus since Sharaa met U.S. President Donald Trump in May, said it did not approve of Israel's strikes. U.S. envoy Tom Barrack said on Monday the Syrian government needed to be held accountable. "They also need to be given the responsibility that they're there to do," he said, speaking on a visit to Beirut. REUTERS
Straits Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Calm reported in Syria's Sweida as tribal fighters said to withdraw
A view shows a street in the village of Walgha, near an Internal Security Forces checkpoint working to prevent Bedouin fighters from advancing towards Sweida, following renewed fighting between Bedouin fighters and Druze gunmen, despite an announced truce, in Sweida province, Syria July 19, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo DAMASCUS - Residents reported calm in the Syrian city of Sweida on Sunday after the Islamist-led government declared that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and the United States stepped up calls for an end to fighting. There was no sound of gunfire on Sunday morning, according to a resident speaking from the city outskirts, while a Druze source in the region said there was calm in most areas. Kenan Azzam, a dentist, described the situation on Sunday morning as "a tense calm" but told Reuters residents were still struggling with a lack of water and electricity. "The hospitals are a disaster and out of service, and there are still so many dead and wounded," he said by phone. The fighting began a week ago with clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters. Damascus then sent troops to quell the fighting, but they were accused of carrying out widespread violations against the Druze and were hit by Israeli strikes before withdrawing under a truce agreed on Wednesday. The Syrian presidency had announced a new ceasefire early on Saturday but it quickly collapsed into renewed fighting, underlining the challenge interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa faces in asserting authority over the fractured nation. REUTERS
GMA Network
4 days ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
Clashes rage in Druze region as Syria struggles to enforce ceasefire
A damaged car is seen at an Internal Security Forces checkpoint working to prevent Bedouin fighters from advancing towards Sweida, following renewed fighting between Bedouin fighters and Druze gunmen, despite an announced truce, in Walgha, Sweida province, Syria July 19, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi DAMASCUS - Sectarian clashes escalated in Syria's predominantly Druze region of Sweida on Saturday, with machine gun fire and mortar shelling ringing out after days of bloodshed as the Islamist-led government struggled to implement a ceasefire. Reuters reporters heard gunfire from inside the city of Sweida and saw shells land in nearby villages. There were no immediate, confirmed reports of casualties. The government had said security forces were deploying in the southern region to try to keep peace, and urged all parties to stop fighting after nearly a week of factional bloodshed in which hundreds have been killed. Late on Saturday, the interior ministry said clashes in Sweida city had been halted and the area cleared of Bedouin tribal fighters following the deployment. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said clashes since last week around Sweida had killed at least 940 people. Reuters could not independently verify the toll. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said "Arab and American" mediation had helped restore calm, before the clashes escalated. He criticized Israel for airstrikes during the week. Violence in Druze region challenges Damascus The fighting is the latest challenge to the control of Sharaa's Islamist-dominated government, which took over after rebels toppled autocratic president Bashar al-Assad in December. It started last week as clashes between the Druze - a religious minority native to southern Syria, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and parts of Lebanon and Jordan - and Syrian Bedouin tribes. Government forces then arrived to try to quell tensions, clashing with Druze gunmen and attacking the Druze community. Saturday's violence once again pitted Druze against Bedouin, witnesses said. The fighting has drawn in neighboring Israel, which carried out airstrikes in southern Syria and on the defense ministry in Damascus this week while government forces were fighting with the Druze. Israel says it is protecting the Druze, who also form a significant minority in Israel. But Israel and Washington differ over Syria. The US supports a centralized Syria under Sharaa's government, which has pledged to rule for all citizens, while Israel says the government is dominated by jihadists and a danger to minorities. In March, Syria's military was involved in mass killings of members of the Alawite minority, to which much of Assad's elite belonged. Israel-Syria tensions In a statement on Saturday, the Syrian presidency announced an immediate ceasefire and urged an immediate end to hostilities. Sharaa said Syria would not be a "testing ground for partition, secession, or sectarian incitement". "The Israeli intervention pushed the country into a dangerous phase that threatened its stability," he said in a televised speech. Sharaa appeared to blame Druze gunmen for the latest clashes, accusing them of revenge attacks against Bedouins. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Sharaa was siding with the perpetrators. "In al-Shara's Syria, it is very dangerous to be a member of a minority — Kurd, Druze, Alawite, or Christian," he posted on X. US envoy Tom Barrack announced on Friday that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. Barrack, who is both US ambassador to Turkey and Washington's Syria envoy, urged Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis, together with other minorities, to "build a new and united Syrian identity". Israel has attacked Syrian military facilities in the seven months since Assad fell, and says it wants areas of southern Syria near its border to remain demilitarized. On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel had agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to Sweida for two days. Sweida hospital fills with casualties Mansour Namour, a resident of a village near Sweida city, said mortar shells were still landing near his home on Saturday afternoon, and that at least 22 people had been wounded. A doctor in Sweida said a local hospital was full of bodies and wounded people from days of violence. "All the injuries are from bombs, some people with their chests wounded. There are also injuries to limbs from shrapnel," said Omar Obeid, director of the hospital. —Reuters
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Clashes rage in Druze region as Syria struggles to enforce ceasefire
By Khalil Ashawi and Laila Bassam , Reuters Tribal and bedouin fighters cross Walga town as they mobilise amid clashes with Druze gunmen, near the predominantly Druze city of Sweida in southern Syria on July 19, 2025. Photo: ABDULAZIZ KETAZ/AFP Sectarian clashes escalated in Syria's predominantly Druze region of Sweida, with machinegun fire and mortar shelling ringing out after days of bloodshed as the Islamist-led government struggles to implement a ceasefire . Reuters reporters heard gunfire from inside the city of Sweida and saw shells land in nearby villages. There were no immediate, confirmed reports of casualties. The government had said security forces were deploying in the southern region to try to keep peace, and urged all parties to stop fighting after nearly a week of factional bloodshed in which hundreds have been killed. Late on Saturday (US Time), the interior ministry said clashes in Sweida city had been halted and the area cleared of Bedouin tribal fighters following the deployment. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said clashes since last week around Sweida had killed at least 940 people . Reuters could not independently verify the toll. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said "Arab and American" mediation had helped restore calm, before the clashes escalated. He criticised Israel for airstrikes during the week . The fighting is the latest challenge to the control of Sharaa's Islamist-dominated government, which took over after rebels toppled autocratic president Bashar al-Assad in December. It started last week as clashes between the Druze - a religious minority native to southern Syria, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and parts of Lebanon and Jordan - and Syrian Bedouin tribes. Government forces then arrived to try to quell tensions, clashing with Druze gunmen and attacking the Druze community. The violence once again pitted Druze against Bedouin, witnesses said. The fighting has drawn in neighbouring Israel, which carried out airstrikes in southern Syria and on the defence ministry in Damascus this week while government forces were fighting with the Druze. Israel said it was protecting the Druze, who also form a significant minority in Israel. But Israel and Washington differ over Syria. The US supports a centralised Syria under Sharaa's government, which has pledged to rule for all citizens, while Israel said the government was dominated by jihadists and a danger to minorities. In March, Syria's military was involved in mass killings of members of the Alawite minority, to which much of Assad's elite belonged. In a statement on Saturday (US time), the Syrian presidency announced an immediate ceasefire and urged an immediate end to hostilities. Sharaa said Syria would not be a "testing ground for partition, secession or sectarian incitement". "The Israeli intervention pushed the country into a dangerous phase that threatened its stability," he said in a televised speech. Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa upon his arrival for a meeting with the French president at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on May 7, 2025 (L) and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group's chief Abu Mohamed al-Jolani (now Ahmed al-Sharaa) in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province at the border with Turkey, on February 7, 2023. Photo: LUDOVIC MARIN, OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP Sharaa appeared to blame Druze gunmen for the latest clashes, accusing them of revenge attacks against Bedouins. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Sharaa was siding with the perpetrators. "In al-Shara's Syria, it is very dangerous to be a member of a minority - Kurd, Druze, Alawite or Christian," he posted on X. US envoy Tom Barrack announced on Friday (US Time) that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. Barrack, who is both US ambassador to Turkey and Washington's Syria envoy, urged Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis, together with other minorities, to "build a new and united Syrian identity". Israel has attacked Syrian military facilities in the seven months since Assad fell, and said it wanted areas of southern Syria near its border to remain demilitarised. On Friday (US Time), an Israeli official said Israel had agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to Sweida for two days. Mansour Namour, a resident of a village near Sweida city, said mortar shells were still landing near his home on Saturday afternoon (US Time), and that at least 22 people had been wounded. A doctor in Sweida said a local hospital was full of bodies and wounded people from days of violence. "All the injuries are from bombs, some people with their chests wounded. There are also injuries to limbs from shrapnel," director of the hospital Omar Obeid said. - Reuters
Straits Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Syria believed it had green light from US, Israel to deploy troops to Sweida
Bedouin fighters ride a car, following renewed fighting between Bedouin fighters and Druze gunmen, despite an announced truce, in Sweida, Syria July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi DAMASCUS/BEIRUT - Syria's government misread how Israel would respond to its troops deploying to the country's south this week, encouraged by U.S. messaging that Syria should be governed as a centralized state, eight sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops and on Damascus on Wednesday in an escalation that took the Islamist-led leadership by surprise, the sources said, after government forces were accused of killing scores of people in the Druze city of Sweida. Damascus believed it had a green light from both the U.S. and Israel to dispatch its forces south despite months of Israeli warnings not to do so, according to the sources, which include Syrian political and military officials, two diplomats, and regional security sources. That understanding was based on public and private comments from U.S. special envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack, as well as on nascent security talks with Israel, the sources said. Barrack has called for Syria to be centrally administered as "one country" without autonomous zones. Syria's understanding of U.S. and Israeli messages regarding its troop deployment to the south has not been previously reported. A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on private diplomatic discussions but said the United States supported the territorial unity of Syria. "The Syrian state has an obligation to protect all Syrians, including minority groups," the spokesperson said, urging the Syrian government to hold perpetrators of violence accountable. In response to Reuters questions, a senior official from Syria's ministry of foreign affairs denied that Barrack's comments had influenced the decision to deploy troops, which was made based on "purely national considerations" and with the aim of "stopping the bloodshed, protecting civilians and preventing the escalation of civil conflict". Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore A deadly cocktail: Easy access, lax attitudes driving Kpod scourge in S'pore Singapore 'I thought it was an April Fool's joke': Teen addicted to Kpods on news that friend died World DOJ asks judge to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts Asia 'Guardian angels': Taiwan's dementia-friendly village promotes ageing in place Opinion A modern interpretation of Islam in Indonesia fuels a push for 'global Muslims' Singapore Critical infrastructure in S'pore under attack by cyber espionage group: Shanmugam Singapore What is UNC3886, the group that attacked Singapore's critical information infrastructure? Singapore NTU upholds zero grade for student accused of using AI in essay; panel found 14 false citations or data Damascus sent troops and tanks to Sweida province on Monday to quell fighting between Bedouin tribes and armed factions within the Druze community - a minority that follows a religion derived from Islam, with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Syrian forces entering the city came under fire from Druze militia, according to Syrian sources. Subsequent violence attributed to Syrian troops, including field executions and the humiliation of Druze civilians, triggered Israeli strikes on Syrian security forces, the defense ministry in Damascus and the environs of the presidential palace, according to two sources, including a senior Gulf Arab official. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel intervened to block Syrian troops from entering southern Syria - which Israel has publicly said should be a demilitarized zone - and to uphold a longstanding commitment to protect the Druze. Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has vowed to hold accountable those responsible for violations against the Druze. He blamed "outlaw groups" seeking to inflame tensions for any crimes against civilians and did not say whether government forces were involved. The U.S. and others quickly intervened to secure a ceasefire by Wednesday evening. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the flare-up as a "misunderstanding" between Israel and Syria. A Syrian and a Western source familiar with the matter said Damascus believed that talks with Israel as recently as last week in Baku produced an understanding over the deployment of troops to southern Syria to bring Sweida under government control. Netanyahu's office declined to comment in response Reuters' questions. Israel said on Friday it had agreed to allow limited access by Syrian forces into Sweida for the next two days. Soon after, Syria said it would deploy a force dedicated to ending the communal clashes, which continued into Saturday morning. Joshua Landis, head of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, said it appeared Sharaa had overplayed his hand earlier in the week. "It seems that his military staff misunderstood the backing of the U.S. It also misunderstood Israel's stand on the Jabal Druze (in Sweida) from its talks with Israel in Baku," he said. 'TOOK IT AS A YES' A Syrian military official said correspondence with the U.S. had led Damascus to believe it could deploy forces without Israel confronting them. The official said U.S. officials had not responded when informed about plans for the deployment, leading the Syrian leadership to believe it had been tacitly approved and "that Israel would not interfere." A diplomat based in Damascus said Syrian authorities had been "overconfident" in its operation to seize Sweida, "based on U.S. messaging that turned out not to reflect reality." U.S. envoy Barrack has said publicly and in private meetings in Damascus that Syria should be "one country," without autonomous rule for its Druze, Kurdish or Alawite communities, which remain largely distrustful of the new Islamist-led leadership. That distrust has prompted Druze factions and a major Kurdish force in northeast Syria to resist Syrian army deployments, and demand their own fighters be integrated into the army as wholesale units only stationed in their territory. Landis said it appeared Sharaa had understood Barrack's statements against federalism in Syria "to mean that the central government could impose its will on the Druze minority by force." The senior Gulf official said Damascus had made a "big mistake" in its approach to Sweida, saying troops had committed violations including killing and humiliating Druze. The nature of violence handed Israel an opportunity to act forcefully, the Gulf official and another source said. The Syrian Network for Human Rights, an independent monitoring group, said on Friday the death toll from the violence had reached at least 321 people, among them medical personnel, women and children. It said they included field executions by all sides. Reuters was able to verify the time and location of some videos showing dead bodies in Sweida, but could not independently verify who conducted the killings or when they occurred. A regional intelligence source said Sharaa had not been in control of events on the ground because of the lack of a disciplined military and his reliance instead on a patchwork of militia groups, often with a background in Islamic militancy. In sectarian violence in Syria's coastal region in March hundreds of people from the Alawite minority were killed by forces aligned to Sharaa. With more blood spilt and distrust of Sharaa's government high among minorities, the senior Gulf Arab official said there are "real fears that Syria is heading towards being broken up into statelets." The official from the Syrian ministry of foreign affairs said the Sweida operation was not aimed at revenge or escalation, but at preserving the peace and unity of the country. Syrian troops were ready to re-engage to end the communal violence there "whenever appropriate conditions arise, including clear guarantees from the United States that Israel will not intervene," the official said, speaking before the Israeli announcement. US DID NOT BACK ISRAELI STRIKES Israel initially lobbied the United States to keep the country weak and decentralised after Assad's fall, Reuters reported in February. In May, U.S. President Donald Trump met with Sharaa, said he would lift all U.S. sanctions, and nudged Israel to engage with Damascus even though much of Israel's political establishment remains skeptical of new Syrian leadership. A State Department spokesperson said on Thursday that the U.S. "did not support" Israel's strikes on Sweida this week. The attacks also came as a shock to some Americans in Syria. Hours before Israel struck the capital city on Wednesday, executives from three US-based energy companies arrived in Damascus for a day of meetings. The lead member and organizer, Argent LNG CEO Jonathan Bass, told Reuters he had been sufficiently reassured by Washington that the violence unfolding in Sweida would not escalate to Damascus. They were pitching an energy project to Syria's finance minister when Israel struck. REUTERS
