Renewed clashes broke out on Thursday night between Druze armed groups and members of Bedouin clans in southern Syria, and government forces were preparing to deploy again to the area yesterday after pulling out under a ceasefire agreement earlier this week, officials said.
Government security forces agreed with some of the Druze factions that they would re-enter the area to impose stability and protect state institutions, two Syrian officials said on condition of anonymity yesterday.
Syrian government forces had largely pulled out of the Druze-majority southern province of Sweida after days of clashes with militias linked to the Druze religious minority that threatened to unravel the country’s fragile transition.
Photo: EPA
The conflict drew airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel in defense of the Druze minority before most of the fighting was halted by a truce announced on Wednesday that was mediated by the US, Turkey and Arab countries.
Under that agreement, Druze factions and clerics would be left to maintain internal security in Sweida, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said on Thursday.
The clashes initially began between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin members on Sunday last week, before government forces intervened, nominally to restore order, but ended up taking the Bedouins’ side against the Druze. The fighting killed hundreds of people over four days, with allegations that government-affiliated fighters executed Druze civilians and looted and burned homes.
Israel intervened, launching dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters and striking the Syrian Ministry of Defense headquarters in central Damascus in a major escalation of its involvement.
The Druze form a substantial community in Israel, where they are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the Israeli military.
After the ceasefire and withdrawal of government forces, clashes once again flared between the Druze and Bedouin groups in parts of Sweida province. State media reported Druze militias carried out revenge attacks against Bedouin communities, leading to a wave of displacement.
Meanwhile, Bedouin groups yesterday arrived from other areas of Syria to join the fight.
On the outskirts of Sweida, groups of them gathered in front of buildings that had been set ablaze. An armed man who gave his name only as Abu Mariam (“father of Mariam”) said he had come from the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor to “support the oppressed.”
“We will not return to our homes until we crush Al-Hijri and his ilk,” he said, referring to a prominent Druze leader opposed to the government in Damascus, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri. “We have nothing to do with civilians and innocent people as long as they stay in their homes.”
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