
Syria sees 'cautious calm' in Suweida after deadly clashes
"Activists have reported that Suweida has been experiencing a cautious calm since the early hours of Sunday morning," the monitoring group said. "Meanwhile, the Syrian government security forces closed roads leading to Suweida to tribes, using soil barriers to prevent vehicles from crossing, except for ambulances, in a move to contain tensions." SOHR added that the city remains under the control of local Druze fighters, while tribal gunmen have withdrawn from several areas within the province.Long-running tensions between Druze and Bedouin tribes erupted into deadly sectarian clashes a week ago, after the abduction of a Druze merchant on the road to the capital Damascus. Both Druze and Bedouin fighters have been accused of atrocities over the past seven days.On Saturday, Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced a ceasefire and sent security forces to Suweida to end the fighting. It has been reported that Druze fighters pushed Bedouin gunmen out of the city on Saturday evening - but violence continued in other parts of the province. This has not been verified by the BBC.On Sunday morning, fighting could not be heard, AFP correspondents near Suweida reported.Meanwhile, the SOHR warned that the humanitarian situation in the city was worsening, pointing to a "severe shortage" of basic medical supplies. An unnamed resident said that aid was needed immediately, telling the Reuters news agency: "The smell of corpses is spread throughout the national hospital."Kenan Azzam, a local dentist speaking as the city was gripped by what he called a "tense calm", said the hospitals were "a disaster and out of service".A Suweida medic told AFP that "no relief or medical assistance" had entered the city before Sunday.

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Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Syrian, Israeli officials discuss de-escalation in Paris meeting, US envoy says
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The Guardian
5 hours ago
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Cambodia calls for ‘immediate ceasefire' with Thailand after two days of deadly clashes
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BBC News
6 hours ago
- BBC News
Cambodia calls for immediate ceasefire with Thailand
Cambodia has called for an "immediate" ceasefire with Thailand, after two days of cross-border fighting between the two South East Asian ambassador to the UN, Chhea Keo, said his country asked for a truce "unconditionally", adding that Phnom Penh also wanted a "peaceful solution of the dispute".Thailand has not publicly commented on the ceasefire proposal. It earlier declared martial law in eight districts bordering least 16 people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced in both countries, who accuse each other of firing the first shots on Thursday. Thailand's acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai on Friday warned that the clashes could "move towards war".He said the fighting now included heavy weapons and had spread to 12 locations along the also accused Cambodia of firing into civilian areas and evacuated all villages deemed to be within the radius of its for its part, accused Thailand of using cluster munitions. Cluster munitions are banned in much of the world because of their indiscriminate effect on civilian populations. Thailand has not responded to the Thailand's foreign minister told the Reuters news agency there was "no need" for third-party mediation in the conflict, even as global leaders appealed for an immediate Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who chairs the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), had earlier offered to facilitate talks between the two US also called for an "immediate cessation of hostilities, protection of civilians and a peaceful resolution of the conflict". Thailand says 14 civilians and one soldier have been killed in the country's Surin, Ubon Ratchathani and Srisaket provinces, while provincial authorities in Cambodia say at least one civilian was says the clashes began with Cambodia's military deploying drones to conduct surveillance of Thai troops near the says Thai soldiers initiated the conflict when they violated a prior agreement by advancing on a Khmer-Hindu temple near the dispute between the two countries dates back to more than 100 years ago, when the borders of the two nations were drawn after the French occupation of have been sporadic clashes over the years which saw soldiers and civilians killed on both latest tensions ramped up in May after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a clash, plunging bilateral ties to their lowest point in more than a decade.