Calm in south Syria's Sweida after week of sectarian violence
Calm appeared to have returned to southern Syria's Sweida province on Sunday, a monitor and AFP correspondents reported, after a week of sectarian violence between Druze fighters and rival groups left hundreds dead.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that since around midnight, "Sweida has been experiencing a cautious calm", adding government security forces had blocked roads leading to the province to prevent tribal fighters from heading there.
AFP correspondents on the outskirts of Sweida city reported hearing no fighting, adding humanitarian convoys were preparing to enter the Druze-majority town.
Sectarian clashes that erupted last Sunday between the Druze and Bedouin rivals drew in the Islamist-led government, Israel and armed tribes from other parts of Syria, killing at least 940 people according to the Observatory.
Witnesses, Druze factions and the Observatory have accused government forces of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses, including summary executions, when they entered Sweida earlier in the week.
Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Saturday announced a ceasefire in Sweida and renewed his pledge to protect Syria's ethnic and religious minorities.
The interior ministry said overnight that Sweida city was "evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city's neighborhoods were halted".
- 'Totally calm' -
A spokesman for Syria's tribal and clan council told Al-Jazeera late Saturday that fighters had left the city "in response to the call of the presidency and the terms of the agreement".
A medic inside Sweida told AFP on Sunday by telephone that "the situation is totally calm... We aren't hearing clashes."
"No medical or relief assistance has entered until now," the medic said, requesting anonymity due to the security situation.
Inside the city, where around 150,000 people live, residents have been holed up in their homes without electricity and water, and food supplies have also been scarce.
U.S. special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said Sunday that the country stood at a "critical juncture", adding that "peace and dialogue must prevail -- and prevail now".
"All factions must immediately lay down their arms, cease hostilities, and abandon cycles of tribal vengeance," he wrote on X, adding that "brutal acts by warring factions on the ground undermine the government's authority and disrupt any semblance of order".
Sharaa's announcement Saturday came hours after the United States said it had negotiated a ceasefire between Syria's government and Israel, which had bombed government forces in both Sweida and Damascus earlier in the week.
Israel, which has its own Druze community, has said it was acting in defense of the group, as well as to enforce its demands for the total demilitarization of Syria's south.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday urged the Syrian government's security forces to prevent jihadists from entering and "carrying out massacres" in the south, and called on Damascus to "bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks."
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Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt reaffirmed his commitment to the statement issued during the emergency meeting held at the Druze community headquarters, stressing the urgent need for a ceasefire in Sweida as a prerequisite to moving forward with the next stages. Jumblatt emphasized that a comprehensive political solution is the only path to preserve the authority of the Syrian state and to address the legitimate demands of the people of Jabal al-Arab. The former MP also called for the launch of an inclusive dialogue between all religious, political, and sectarian components under the sponsorship of the state. The Druze leader condemned any calls for international or Israeli protection, considering such proposals a violation of Syrian sovereignty and an insult to Sweida's national and Arab identity. Jumblatt urged an end to the escalation, the lifting of the siege on affected areas, and serious efforts to avoid further deterioration. He concluded by affirming that Syria's Druze are an integral part of the Arab and Syrian national fabric, and should not be treated as a separate entity from their natural environment.
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