Latest news with #Sweida
News.com.au
27 minutes ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
Syria forces deploy in Druze heartland after US brokers deal with Israel
Syrian interior ministry forces began deploying in Sweida on Saturday under a US-brokered deal intended to avert further Israeli military intervention in the Druze-majority province. Israel had bombed defence ministry forces in both Sweida and Damascus earlier this week to force their withdrawal after they were accused of summary executions and other abuses against Druze civilians during their brief deployment in the southern province. More than 700 people have been killed in Sweida since Sunday as sectarian clashes between the Druze and Sunni Bedouin drew in the Islamist-led government, Israel and armed tribes from other parts of Syria. The office of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced an "immediate ceasefire" in Sweida which it called on "all parties to fully respect". But AFP correspondents in and around the city reported gunfire and sporadic rocket fire and explosions as Druze fighters battled armed Bedouin who had seized some neighbourhoods on Friday with the support of volunteers from other parts of Syria. The Observatory, a Britain-based war monitor, said the armed volunteers had been deployed with the support of the Islamist-led government although an AFP journalist said security personnel were manning checkpoints on Saturday to prevent further reinforcements getting through. Druze fighters said the volunteers were mostly Islamists, who advanced to shouts of "Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest)". One armed tribesman told AFP he had come to fight against the Druze clergy and their "pig followers". "Today we came to their homes and we will slaughter them in their homes," he said. - US-brokered deal - The deal between the Islamist-government and Israel was announced by Washington early on Saturday Damascus time. US pointman on Syria, Tom Barrack, said interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "have agreed to a ceasefire" negotiated by the United States. Barrack, who is US ambassador to Ankara, said the deal had the backing of Turkey, a key supporter of Sharaa, as well as neighbouring Jordan. "We call upon Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbours," he wrote on X. The US administration, which has sided with Turkey and Saudi Arabia in forging ties with the Islamist president despite his past links with Al-Qaeda, was critical of its Israeli ally's air strikes on Sria earlier this week and had sought a way out for his government. Sharaa followed up on the US announcement with a televised speech in which he renewed his pledge to protect Syria's ethnic and religious minorities. "The Syrian state is committed to protecting all minorities and communities in the country... We condemn all crimes committed" in Sweida, he said. The president paid tribute to the "important role played by the United States, which again showed its support for Syria in these difficult circumstances and its concern for the country's stability". He also thanked Turkey and Arab countries for their support. - 'No more room in morgue' - The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said at least 718 people had been killed since Sunday. They included 146 Druze fighters and 245 Druze civilians, 165 of whom were summarily executed. The monitor said 287 government troops and 18 Bedouin fighters were also killed along with three Bedouin "who were summarily executed by Druze fighters". Fifteen more government troops were killed in Israeli air strikes. In the corridors of the city's main public hospital, a foul odour emanated from the swollen and disfigured bodies piled up in refrigerated storage units, an AFP correspondent reported. A small number of doctors and nurses at the hospital worked to treat the wounded arriving from the ongoing clashes, some in the hallways. Doctor Omar Obeid told AFP that the hospital had received "more than 400 bodies" since Monday morning. "There is no more room in the morgue. The bodies are in the street," he added. The International Committee for the Red Cross warned that health facilities were overwhelmed, with power cuts impeding the preservation of bodies in overflowing morgues. "The humanitarian situation in Sweida is critical. People are running out of everything," said Stephan Sakalian, the head of the ICRC's delegation in Syria. The International Organization for Migration said 79,339 civilians had fled the fighting.
LBCI
an hour ago
- Politics
- LBCI
President al-Sharaa says Syria is not a battleground for secessionist agendas, praises US support for national unity
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa reaffirmed on Saturday that Syria will not become a platform for secessionist projects, emphasizing the importance of preserving the country's sovereignty and unity. He welcomed Washington's stated support for Syria's territorial integrity. Speaking during a televised address, President al-Sharaa revealed that Damascus had received international calls to intervene and restore stability in the southern city of Sweida, following weeks of unrest and violent clashes. He blamed Israeli interference for reigniting tensions in the region, saying that the "blatant bombardment of southern Syria and Damascus had further destabilized the situation in Sweida.'' 'The Syrian state alone is capable of preserving its authority and sovereignty over all its territory,' al-Sharaa said, reiterating appreciation for the United States' assurances of support for Syria's unity. In light of what he described as a 'critical moment,' the president called on tribal leaders and members of the Druze community to stand united against efforts to incite sectarian strife. He emphasized that the government would firmly counter any attempt to fuel the flames of division. Al-Sharaa added that recent events had demonstrated that the people of Sweida largely support the Syrian state, 'except a small group,' reiterating that Syria will not tolerate fragmentation.
Asharq Al-Awsat
an hour ago
- Health
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Syria's Hospital in Sweida a ‘Mass Grave'
In the last barely-functional hospital in Sweida, bodies are overflowing from the morgue, staff said, amid violence that has wracked the Druze-majority southern Syrian city for nearly a week. 'It's not a hospital anymore, it's a mass grave,' Rouba, a member of the medical staff at the city's sole government hospital, told AFP, weeping as she appealed for aid. Dr. Omar Obeid, who heads the Sweida division at Syria's Order of Physicians, said the facility has received 'more than 400 bodies since Monday morning,' including women, children and the elderly. 'There's no more space in the morgue, the bodies are out on the street' in front of the hospital, he told AFP. Fighting erupted Sunday night between Druze fighters and local Bedouin tribes before Syrian government forces intervened on Monday with the stated intention of quelling the violence. The government forces withdrew from the city on Thursday following Israeli airstrikes on southern Syria and the capital, Damascus. In the hospital on Friday, corridors were engulfed by the stench of the dead bodies, which had bloated beyond recognition, an AFP correspondent said. Visibly overwhelmed, the handful of medical personnel remaining at the facility nonetheless rushed to do their best to offer care to the seemingly endless stream of wounded, many of them waiting in the hallways. 'There are only nine doctors and medical staff left, and they are working nonstop,' said Rouba, who preferred not to give her full name. 'The situation is very bad, we have no water and no electricity, medicines are starting to run out,' Rouba continued. 'There are people who have been at home for three days and we can't manage to rescue them,' she said. 'The bodies are on the streets and no one can go out to get them. Yesterday, five big cars filled with bodies arrived at the hospital,' Rouba added. 'There are women, children, people whose identities are unknown, cut-off arms or legs.' The United Nations on Friday urged an end to the bloodshed, demanding 'independent, prompt and transparent investigations into all violations.'
The Guardian
an hour ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Syrian government declares ‘comprehensive' ceasefire in Sweida
The Syrian presidency has declared an 'immediate and comprehensive' ceasefire in Sweida, saying internal security forces have been deployed in the southern province after almost a week of fighting in the predominantly Druze area which has killed more than 700 people. Armed tribes had clashed with Druze fighters on Friday, a day after the army withdrew under Israeli bombardment and diplomatic pressure. In a statement on Saturday, the Syrian presidency warned that any breaches of the ceasefire would be a 'clear violation to sovereignty', and urged all parties to commit to the ceasefire and end hostilities in all areas immediately. Syria's internal security forces had begun deploying in Sweida 'with the aim of protecting civilians and putting an end to the chaos', the ministry spokesperson Noureddine al-Baba said in a statement on Telegram. A statement on Saturday by one of the three religious leaders of the Syrian Druze community, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, said the ceasefire would guarantee safe exit for tribe members and the opening of humanitarian corridors for besieged civilians to leave. Hours earlier, the US envoy announced that Israel and Syria had agreed to a ceasefire, after Israel sided with the Druze factions and joined the conflict, including by bombing a government building in Damascus. The UN had also called for an end to the 'bloodshed' and demanded an independent investigation of the violence, which has killed at least 718 people from both sides since Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The SOHR reported on Friday that the humanitarian situation in Sweida had 'dramatically deteriorated' owing to an acute shortage of food and medical supplies. All hospitals were out of service because of the conflict and looting was widespread in the city. 'The situation in the hospital is disastrous. The corpses have begun to rot, there's a huge amount of bodies, among them women and children,' a surgeon at Sweida national hospital told the Guardian over the phone. The renewed fighting raised questions about the authority of the Syrian leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose interim government faces misgivings from the country's minorities after the slaughter of 1,500 mostly Alawite civilians on the Syrian coast in March. It was Sharaa who ordered government forces to pull out of Sweida, saying that mediation by the US and others had helped to avert a 'large-scale escalation' with Israel. A number of sources told Reuters that Sharaa had initially misread how Israel would respond to him deploying troops to the country's south earlier this week, encouraged by the US special envoy Thomas Barrack saying Syria should be centrally governed as 'one country'. When Israel targeted Syrian troops and Damascus on Wednesday, bombarding the Syrian defence ministry's headquarters in central Damascus and striking near the presidential palace, it took the Syrian government by surprise, the sources said. Druze people are seen as a loyal minority within Israel and often serve in its military, and an Israeli military spokesperson said the strikes were a message to Syria's president regarding the events in Sweida. But the Syrian government mistakenly believed it had a green light from both the US and Israel to dispatch its forces south despite months of Israeli warnings not to do so, according to the Reuters sources, which included Syrian political and military officials, two diplomats and regional security sources. The violence erupted last Sunday after the kidnapping of a Druze vegetable merchant by local Bedouin triggered tit-for-tat abductions, the SOHR said. The government sent in the army, promising to put a halt to the fighting, but witnesses and the SOHR said the troops sided with the Bedouin and committed many abuses against Druze civilians as well as fighters. The organisation reported that 19 civilians were killed in an 'horrific massacre' when Syrian defence ministry forces and general security forces entered the town of Sahwat al-Balatah. After the Israeli bombardment, a truce was negotiated on Wednesday, allowing Druze factions and clerics to maintain security in Sweida as government forces pulled out. In a speech on Thursday, the Syrian president said Druze groups would be left to govern security affairs in the southern province, in what he described as a choice to avoid war. Sharaa said: 'We sought to avoid dragging the country into a new, broader war that could derail it from its path to recovery from the devastating war … We chose the interests of Syrians over chaos and destruction.' But clashes resumed on Thursday as Syrian state media reported that Druze groups had launched revenge attacks on Bedouin villages. Bedouin tribes had fought alongside government forces against Druze fighters earlier in the week. On Friday, about 200 tribal fighters clashed with armed Druze men from Sweida using machine guns and shells, an Agence France-Presse correspondent said, while the SOHR reported fighting and 'shelling on neighbourhoods in Sweida city'. Sweida has been heavily damaged in the fighting and its mainly Druze inhabitants have been deprived of water and electricity, while communication lines have been cut. Rayan Maarouf, the editor-in-chief of the local news outlet Suwayda 24, said the humanitarian situation was 'catastrophic'. 'We cannot find milk for children,' he told AFP. The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, has demanded 'independent, prompt and transparent investigations into all violations' adding that 'those responsible must be held to account'. The International Committee for the Red Cross said 'health facilities are overwhelmed, medical supplies are dwindling and power cuts are impeding the preservation of human remains in overflowing morgues'. 'The humanitarian situation in Sweida is critical. People are running out of everything,' said Stephan Sakalian, the head of ICRC's delegation in Syria. Syria's minority groups have been given what many see as only token representation in the interim government since the former president Bashar al-Assad fled the country, according to Bassam Alahmad, the executive director of Syrians for Truth and Justice, a civil society organisation. 'It's a transitional period. We should have a dialogue, and they [the minorities] should feel that they're a real part of the state,' Alahmad said. Instead, the incursion into Sweida sent a message that the new authorities would use military force to 'control every part of Syria'. 'Bashar Assad tried this way' and failed, he added. Government supporters, however, fear its decision to withdraw could signal to other minorities that it is acceptable to demand their own autonomous regions, which they say would fragment and weaken the country. If Damascus ceded security control of Sweida to the Druze, 'of course everyone else is going to demand the same thing', said Abdel Hakim al-Masri, a former official in the Turkish-backed regional government in north-west Syria before Assad's fall. 'This is what we are afraid of,' he told the Associated Press.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Syrian government urges parties to respect truce in Druze region
DAMASCUS, July 19 (Reuters) - Syria's Islamist-led government said its security forces were deploying in the predominantly Druze southern city of Sweida on Saturday and urged all parties to respect a ceasefire after days of factional bloodshed that has left hundreds dead. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in a separate speech said that "Arab and American" mediation had helped bring calm, and criticised Israel for airstrikes against Syrian government forces in the south and Damascus during the week. Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence, which began with clashes between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions, before Damascus sent in government security forces. Israel has carried out airstrikes in southern Syria and on the defence ministry in Damascus, saying it is protecting the Druze minority, of whom there are a significant number in Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. In a statement on Saturday, the Syrian presidency announced an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire and urged all parties to end hostilities immediately. The interior ministry said internal security forces had begun deploying in Sweida. Sharaa called for calm and 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. U.S. envoy Tom Barrack announced on Friday that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire supported by Turkey, Jordan and neighbours. Barrack, who is both U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Washington's Syria envoy, urged Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis to put down their weapons "and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity". Israel has attacked Syrian military facilities and weaponry in the seven months since Sharaa's forces toppled President Bashar al-Assad, and says it wants areas of southern Syria near its border to remain demilitarised. On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel had agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to the Sweida area for the next two days.
