Latest news with #Bedouin fighters
BBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Syria: Bedouins tell BBC they could return to fighting Druze
Bedouin fighters positioned outside the southern Syrian city of Suweida have told the BBC they will observe a ceasefire with the Druze community there, but have not ruled out resuming hostilities. The Bedouin fighters have retreated from the city to surrounding villages in the province after a week of deadly sectarian clashes between Druze fighters, Bedouins and government forces, with Israel carrying out air strikes in support of the Sunday a UK-based monitoring group said there was a "cautious calm" in the region - but later said tribal fighters had attacked the town of al-Mazara'a - a Druze town until last week when it was taken over by the Bedouin and now under Syrian government control - smoke could be seen across the fields rising from Suweida a nearby checkpoint a mound of dirt cut across the road. Dozens of government security personnel were standing along it, all heavily armed and blocking the Bedouin from re-entering the of Bedouin fighters, many firing guns into the air, crowded the want the release of injured Bedouin people still in the city of Suweida, who they refer to as hostages. Otherwise, they say, they will force their way past the checkpoint and head back into the city."We did what the government have ordered us and we are committed to the agreement, and the government words and we came back, Suweida is 35km far from here," a tribal elder told the BBC."Currently our hostages and wounded are there, they are refusing to give us anyone... If they don't commit to the agreement we are going to enter again, even if Suweida will become our cemetery." 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 President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government responded by deploying forces to the city. Druze residents of Suweida told the BBC they had witnessed "barbaric acts" as gunmen - government forces and foreign fighters - attacked people. Israel targeted these forces, saying they were acting to protect the forces withdrew and Druze and Bedouin fighters subsequently clashed. Both Druze and Bedouin fighters have been accused of atrocities over the past seven days, as well as members of the security forces and individuals affiliated with the interim Saturday, al-Sharaa announced a ceasefire and sent security forces to Suweida to end the Druze fighters are once again in control of the city. But more than 1,120 people have been killed, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) dead included 427 Druze fighters and 298 Druze civilians, 194 of whom were "summarily executed by defence and interior ministry personnel", the monitor 354 government security personnel and 21 Sunni Bedouin were also killed, three of them civilians who it said were "summarily executed by Druze fighters". Another 15 government troops were killed in Israeli strikes, it said. At least 128,000 people have been displaced by the violence, the UN migration agency said on Sunday. Suweida city has a severe medical supply shortage, the SOHR said.A first humanitarian convoy from the Syrian Red Crescent has reportedly reached the city. Israel's public broadcaster reported that Israel had sent medical aid to the Secretary of State Marco Rubio meanwhile has demanded that the government "hold accountable and bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks" to preserve the possibility of a united and peaceful Mia'rbah, south-west of Suweida, Bedouin refugees gathered at what used to be a school. The village still bore the scars from years of civil war, with buildings lying in ruins and strewn with bullet holes. At the aid distribution centres elderly Bedouin women collected water from a tank on the back of the truck. Most of the people there were women and children. Asked whether she thought Bedouin and Druze could live together, one woman displaced from Suweida city said it would depend on the government in Damascus. "They can live together if the government will take over and rule, and if the government will provide peace and security," she the absence of government authority, she said she believed that Bedouin could not trust the Druze."They are traitors, without peace and security we can't live with them," she reporting by Jack Burgess
The National
3 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Syria's Al Shara says Sweida violence marked 'dangerous turning point'
Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara on Saturday said the violent clashes in the Druze heartland of Sweida over the past week constituted a "dangerous turning point" that was worsened by Israeli intervention. In his first address since a ceasefire was announced in Sweida earlier in the day, Mr Al Shara said the violent clashes were "about to spiral out of control" had it not been for the intervention of Syrian forces. Sectarian clashes left more than 700 people dead in the Druze-majority province of Sweida in about a week of violence which began with clashes between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions, before government forces became embroiled in the fighting. "The recent events witnessed in Sweida have marked a dangerous turning point," the Syrian leader said as his seven-month rule witnessed several waves of bloody sectarian clashes. On Wednesday, Israel launched a series of attacks against Syria, including striking the Ministry of Defence and the presidential palace, in what it claimed was an effort to protect the Druze community. But diplomats and analysts said its goal is to weaken the new Syrian authorities 'The Israeli intervention has renewed tensions and pushed the country into a dangerous phase that threatens its stability as a result of the blatant bombing of the south and government institutions in Damascus,' Mr Al Shara said, shortly after his office announced an "immediate ceasefire" in the southern province. The Israeli military said on Saturday that dozens of Israeli citizens crossed the border with Syria into Majdal Shams, a Druze village in the occupied Golan Heights. It said the Israeli citizens used violence against Israeli forces trying to disperse a gathering in the area overnight. US envoy to Damascus, Tom Barrack, early on Saturday announced a ceasefire between Israel and Syria. He also called on the Druze and Bedouin factions to put their weapons down. Mr Al Shara thanked the US for its support and for "affirming its stance alongside Syria in these difficult circumstances". He also vowed to protect minorities in the country. "The Syrian state is committed to protecting all minorities and communities in the country... We condemn all crimes committed" in Sweida, he said. While the Syrian government announced an end to its military offensive in Sweida on Wednesday, sectarian violence erupted again on Friday as Bedouin clashed with Druze militia in the south-western region. The country's interior ministry spokesperson said earlier on Saturday that internal security forces had begun deploying in Sweida. Bloody week The fighting, which began on Sunday as tit-for-tat attacks between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze militias, two long-standing rivals, quickly escalated into violence. Government forces intervened to quell the clashes, but were accused of committing widespread abuses against the Druze. Israel also joined the fray, launching attacks on government forces, saying it was acting to protect the Druze. Mr Al Shara said the recent withdrawal of government forces from Sweida led to "retaliatory attacks" against Sunni Bedouin tribes. Inside Sweida, residents said a precarious calm had held throughout the day, despite fighting raging on the outskirts of the city and fears it could spread. Many described harrowing scenes as they ventured back into the streets after days of confinement amid indiscriminate shelling, with bodies in the streets, burnt-out cars and looted homes. The UN's migration agency said on Friday that nearly 80,000 people have been displaced by sectarian violence.
CBC
4 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
Canadian Druze community asks for humanitarian corridor into Jordan amid violence in Syria
More than 100 demonstrators from Canada's Druze community gathered on Parliament Hill on Friday afternoon, asking for the government to intervene in an unfolding humanitarian crisis in Syria where hundreds have already been killed. The Druze are a religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shia Islam. They make up about three per cent of Syria's population, with more than half of the approximately one million Druze worldwide living in Syria. Over the last week, Syria's government stepped into fighting in the Suwayda administrative region in the southern part of the country, between local Bedouin fighters and militias linked to the Druze. Syria's intervention caused further bloodshed, and a fragile ceasefire declared just on Wednesday was reportedly broken again by Friday morning, according to Al Jazeera. "There's a clear intention to destroy the group of Druze in Syria," said Fahd Abou Zainedin, an organizer of Friday's demonstration on Parliament Hill. Some demonstrators held signs calling the killings a genocide. "We would like to call and ask for the Canadian government, and all democracies all over the world, to open the humanitarian corridor immediately, to save the lives of innocent children that are being killed," he said. With Suwayda only about an hour away from Syria's border with Jordan, the demonstrators believe Canada can use its diplomatic heft to pressure both governments into allowing safe passage for the Druze, as well as providing humanitarian aid to the population. Syria denies involvement in massacres Syria's new government, which came into power after toppling President Bashar al-Assad's regime last December, has denied having any hand in the killings of civilians, saying its armed forces intervened only due to clashes between militias. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said protecting Druze and their rights was a priority for his government, and vowed to hold to account those who committed violations against "our Druze people." Al-Sharaa also spoke out against Israel's involvement in the fighting. Israel has repeatedly conducted airstrikes into Syria this year, with some hitting Syria's Defence Ministry in the capital of Damascus just on Wednesday. Israel has said it would protect Druze from any attacks, not allowing military forces to descend on them. Since the new government's takeover of Syria, Israel has moved troops into the country. Video circulating on social media has shown government forces and allies humiliating Druze clerics and residents, looting homes and killing civilians inside their own homes. The United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an NGO, said it counted 374 people killed since clashes erupted. It cited "field executions and violations committed by Defence Ministry forces against civilians and local Druze fighters." Yara Harb, a volunteer organizer at Ottawa's protest, said "there's been dehumanization, there's been humiliation, there have been aggressions against dignity and the Druze identity," she said. Harb said it is very hard to establish contact with loved ones in the area due the internet and power being shut off. She said her grandparents, who live there, told her their house was ransacked by a group of 40 men, and the last update she heard from them was that they had left their home behind to seek refuge elsewhere. Harb said their neighbour's son was shot. "They couldn't get him to safety at all. So he ended up dying after 24 hours with the only intervention being prayers from my 85-year-old grandma," she said. Bassma Al Atrache came to the protest from Montreal. She said she has been unable to contact her mother, who is in Suwayda, for four days. "The last time I spoke to her, she was very traumatized, she was hearing airstrikes everywhere," Al Atrache said, adding her mother is a Canadian citizen. Tentative new relationship with Canada Global Affairs Canada has yet to respond to a series of questions about this story. The Canadian government is tentatively renewing a relationship with Syria, where it closed its embassy in 2012. In mid-March, Canada named Stefanie McCollum, its ambassador to Lebanon, to serve concurrently as a non-resident ambassador to Syria. In February, then prime minister Justin Trudeau named former cabinet minister Omar Alghabra as special envoy for Syria.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Syrian media report Israeli strike near violence-hit Druze city
Syrian state-run media say Israel carried out an air strike near Syria's southern Druze-majority city of Suweida late on Sana news agency is reporting that "Israeli occupation aircraft carried out a raid on the outskirts" of the city, without giving any further details. Israel's military has not commented on the confirmed, it would the first Israeli attack in the area since Syrian government forces pulled out following deadly sectarian fighting on Sunday.A monitoring group says nearly 600 people have been killed in clashes in the Suweida province involving the Druze religious minority, Bedouin fighters and government forces. The UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR) documented a significant outbreak of brutality in the killings that gripped the province since says that 300 Druze were killed, including 146 fighters and 154 civilians, 83 of whom were "summarily executed" by government least 257 government personnel and 18 Bedouin fighters were also killed, while three Bedouin civilians were summarily killed by Druze fighters, it fighting was sparked by a dispute between the Bedouin and Druze 15 government personnel were reportedly killed in Israel air strikes, which Israel said it carried out to protect the Druze and make the government forces withdraw from was not immediately possible to verify the SOHR's figures. However, security sources put the death toll at 300 and another monitoring group, the Syrian Network for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of at least 169 civilians. On Thursday, Suweida residents reported scenes of damage and looting, as well as bodies being found in the of fighters from Syria's Islamist-led government began entering the city on Monday, ostensibly to restore order following the clashes between the Druze and Bedouin. But that was followed by an escalation in the fighting and a fracturing of Syria's Druze, whose religion is an offshoot of Shia Islam with its own unique identity and Syrian government announced a ceasefire on Wednesday evening ahead of its one prominent Druze leader, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, rejected it, calling for further fighting until the "total liberation of our province from gangs", referring to government Hajri, whose followers led the fighting against the government's forces, has sought to forge close relationships with Israel. Other branches of Suweida's Druze community have sought to work closely with Syria's new Islamist-led government. There is also a sizeable Druze community in Israel and the occupied Golan Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel intended to continue imposing its interests on Syria with intervention in the clashes was done partly to protect the Druze, Netanyahu said, but also to prevent the Syrian military from deploying in the south of the country."That will also be our policy going forward - we will not allow Syrian army forces to enter the region south of Damascus, and will not allow any harm to the Druze," he Wednesday, Israeli air strikes caused severe damage to the Syrian ministry of defence in Damascus and struck the vicinity of the presidential palace - a dramatic escalation in Israel's repeated attacks on its neighbour since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December last a televised statement on Wednesday evening, Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa called Israel's attacks an attempt to destabilise his country."We find ourselves in the heart of a battle to protect the unity of our land, the dignity of our people and the resilience of our nation," he said. "The Israeli entity, which has consistently targeted our stability and sown discord since the fall of the former regime, now seeks once again to turn our sacred land into a theatre of endless chaos."Addressing Syria's Druze, he continued: "We affirm that protecting your rights and freedoms is among our top priorities. We reject any attempt - foreign or domestic - to sow division."
