
Calm reported in Syria's Sweida as tribal fighters said to withdraw
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city of Sweida on Sunday after the Islamist-led government declared that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and the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.
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Who are the Druze, and why did Israel say it was striking Syria for their benefit?
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]
'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
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025

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Irish Times
9 hours ago
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Photograph: Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times Before the Israeli attacks, some Iran analysts had expected domestic turmoil this summer: Alongside an economic crisis, Iran's water, electricity and fuel supplies had been failing as temperatures soared. The war seems to have led to an opposite effect. Now some Iranians appear willing to stomach more government restrictions, including the tightening of internet access. The Iranian government has also begun a massive crackdown against what it says are infiltrators and spies, but which rights groups say is also sweeping up dissidents and minorities. US president Donald Trump and Netanyahu's calls for Iranians to rise up against the government in the wake of the strikes has led even some critics of the Iranian government to argue that they could not countenance protesting right now. 'People do not want domestic change to be driven by foreign governments,' Lida, who works in Tehran, told The New York Times in a voice message. 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Irish Times
9 hours ago
- Irish Times
Clashes in Syria ‘have killed 1,200 and triggered humanitarian crisis'
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