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New York Times
a day ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Syrian Government Evacuates Bedouin Families After Deadly Clashes
As part of a cease-fire agreement to return calm to the southern Syrian province of Sweida, the Syrian government said it was evacuating hundreds of Bedouin tribal families from the area on Monday after more than a week of deadly clashes. Also on Monday, the government said it had deployed security forces across the province to secure the area and protect civilians. More than 1,100 people were killed in eight days of violence, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based organization. The clashes, between armed groups from Bedouin tribes and the Druse religious minority, erupted earlier this month and renewed fears of widespread sectarian violence and attacks against religious minorities. The violence also drew in neighboring Israel, which carried out multiple airstrikes on Syrian government targets in the capital, Damascus, saying it was acting to protect the Druse. On Saturday, the Syrian government announced the cease-fire deal and redeployed forces to Sweida, after briefly withdrawing from the province, to quell renewed clashes between the two sides. A cease-fire deal had been announced on Wednesday, but clashes continued. In a televised address on Saturday, President Ahmed al-Shara of Syria described the recent bloodshed as a 'dangerous turning point' for his nation. He said that 'the Israeli intervention has pushed the country into a dangerous phase that poses a threat to its stability.' The situation remained tense even as Bedouin families left the province in private vehicles and on government buses, as sporadic fighting continued on Monday, according to the Observatory. The Syrian government said the families who were being evacuated had been trapped in the provincial capital, Sweida. They were being taken to the neighboring province of Daraa. 'We affirm our full commitment to ensuring the exit of all those wishing to leave Sweida Province, and we will provide the possibility of entry to those who wish to do so,' Brig. Gen. Ahmad al-Dalati, a commander with the interior security forces in Sweida, said, according to state media. General al-Dalati said a security cordon had been imposed around Sweida to secure the area after tribal armed groups from other parts of Syria came to the province to participate in the clashes. An Interior Ministry spokesman, Noureddine Al-Baba, said that the government was forcing Bedouin families to leave for their own safety because they had become caught up in the violence between the armed groups. 'It had turned them into hostages in their own areas,' Mr. Al-Baba said. 'And it had slowed the movement of government forces on the ground.' He described the conflict between the Druse and Bedouin tribes in the area as going back decades and revolving around land rights. Dayana Iwaza contributed reporting.
New York Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Syria Declares Cease-Fire After a Week of Upheaval
The Syrian government announced a cease-fire deal on Saturday and said it would redeploy its forces to the restive southern province of Sweida in a new effort to quell a deadly wave of sectarian violence that drew in neighboring Israel. 'The Syrian state has managed to calm the situation despite difficult circumstances,' President Ahmed al-Shara said in a televised address on Saturday, describing the recent bloodshed as a 'dangerous turning point' for his nation. 'The Israeli intervention has pushed the country into a dangerous phase that poses a threat to its stability,' he added. Hours earlier, the U.S. special envoy to Syria, Thomas J. Barrack Jr., said that Israel and Syria had agreed to a truce that he described as a 'breakthrough.' Mr. Barrack called on Syrian armed groups — including Bedouin fighters and minority Druse at the center of the recent clashes — to lay down their weapons. It was not immediately clear how the new truce differed from a cease-fire in Sweida that the Syrian authorities announced Wednesday. That day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Washington had worked with all parties involved and had 'agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight.' Soon after those comments, the Syrian state news agency, SANA, reported that government forces had begun withdrawing from Sweida. That appeared to end the worst of the violence, though clashes have since continued sporadically in some areas. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Syrian President Condemns Israeli Airstrikes on Damascus
President Ahmed al-Shara of Syria accused Israel on Thursday of seeking to sow 'chaos' in the country, hours after the Israeli military carried out airstrikes in Damascus near the presidential palace and damaged part of the Ministry of Defense building. In a televised statement, Mr. al-Shara condemned Israel for the 'wide-scale targeting of civilian and government facilities' after it intervened following clashes between Syrian government forces, local Bedouin groups and militias from the Druse religious minority. Mr. al-Shara's speech was his most direct condemnation of Israel since he took power in January and came after multiple days of deadly clashes in the southern Syrian province of Sweida, the heartland of the country's Druse minority and a strategically important region near Jordan and Israel. The violence erupted on Sunday with clashes between mostly Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druse militias in Sweida. As the unrest escalated, the Syrian government deployed military forces to Sweida to quell the conflict. But some Druse militia leaders — who deeply distrust Syria's new authorities — thought that the government forces were coming to attack the Druse. The militias then mobilized to repel the incoming government forces. The violence prompted fears that the fighting could swell into a wider sectarian conflict. It also drew in neighboring Israel, which is home to a sizable Druse minority population and has pledged to protect the minority community. Amid the clashes, Israel launched airstrikes on government forces in both Sweida and Damascus. The attacks in the capital, Damascus, on Wednesday came as the Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, threatened to intensify strikes unless the Syrian government withdrew its forces from Sweida. Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes and carried out incursions into southern Syria since a rebel group led by Mr. al-Shara overthrew the government of Bashar al-Assad in December, but the strikes on Wednesday were a significant escalation of its bombing campaign. At least 350 people have been killed in Sweida since Sunday, including government forces, Druse fighters and civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in Britain. By early Thursday, the situation appeared to have calmed down. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said on social media that the United States had helped broker an agreement between all parties involved in the clashes. In his televised address, Mr. al-Shara said that the Israeli strikes could have pushed 'matters to a large-scale escalation, except for the effective intervention of American, Arab and Turkish mediation, which saved the region from an unknown fate.' The Syrian government and a prominent Druse spiritual leader also announced a cease-fire, and Syria's state news agency reported that troops were leaving Sweida on Wednesday night. Mr. al-Shara said that the 'responsibility' for security in Sweida would be handed over to elders and local factions as part of that agreement. The Syrian president added that those responsible for the violence against the Druse would be held accountable as the community was 'under the protection and responsibility of the state.'
New York Times
14-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Sectarian Clashes in Syria Kill More Than 50, Health Official and Rights Group Say
More than 50 people have been killed in a second day of sectarian violence in Syria between Bedouin groups and militias from the Druse religious minority, according to a local health official and monitoring groups. The clashes in the southern province of Sweida underscore the difficulty the new government led by President Ahmed al-Shara has had in asserting control over the country since ousting the regime of Bashar al-Assad in December. The Druse militias have resisted efforts by the government to unify all armed groups under its authority. In the clashes that began on Sunday, more than 150 people were injured, said a local health official who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation. More than two children were among the dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group. The Syrian government called for restraint and sent military forces to 'quickly and decisively' resolve the conflict, the Defense Ministry said in a statement released on social media. It added that its forces were providing safe passage for civilians trying to flee the area. Eighteen soldiers who were sent to the region to quell the violence on Monday were killed, according to a defense official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about sensitive matters related to military activities. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
