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Barnama
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Barnama
Syrian Government Sends Buses To Evacuate Families From Suwayda Amid Unrest
Civilians ride on buses as they leave Sweida, Syria, after hundreds of Bedouin civilians were evacuated from Syria's predominantly Druze city of Sweida on Monday as part of a U.S.-backed truce meant to end days of bloodshed in southern Syria, state media and witnesses said, in T'ara, Sweida governorate, Syria July 22, 2025. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri ISTANBUL, July 23 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- The Syrian government dispatched buses to Suwayda on Tuesday to evacuate families trapped in the southern city amid security unrest, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported. Syria's state news agency SANA said that the buses began to enter the city to move the trapped families out of the area. The agency published photos showing several buses heading toward the city. bootstrap slideshow On Monday, a local official in the southwestern Daraa province told Anadolu that displacement from Suwayda to his area was still ongoing. According to local authorities in Daraa, over 3,500 families from Bedouin and Druze communities have fled their homes in Suwayda to the nearby province. On July 13, clashes broke out between Bedouin Arab tribes and armed Druze groups in Suwayda. Violence escalated, and Israeli airstrikes followed, targeting Syrian military positions and infrastructure, including in the capital Damascus. It reported that while Israel cited the 'protection of Druze communities' as a pretext for its attacks, most Druze leaders in Syria have publicly rejected any foreign interference and reaffirmed their commitment to a unified Syrian state. A ceasefire took hold on Saturday. The new Syrian government has been working to reestablish order nationwide since the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad on Dec 8, 2024. -- BERNAMA-ANADOLU
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Bedouin civilians evacuate Syria's Sweida as tense truce holds
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Bedouin families ride in a vehicle with belongings as they leave the village of Al-Mazraa, as residents reported calm in Syria's Sweida on Sunday after the Islamist-led government announced that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and a U.S. envoy signaled that a deal to end days of fighting was being implemented, in Sweida, Syria, July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri DAMASCUS - Hundreds of Bedouin civilians were evacuated from Syria's predominantly Druze city of Sweida on Monday as part of a U.S.-backed truce meant to end fighting that has killed hundreds of people, state media and witnesses said. With hundreds reported killed, the violence in the southern province of Sweida has posed a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, drawing Israeli airstrikes on his Islamist-led government last week and deepening fissures in a country fractured by 14 years of sectarian civil war. A ceasefire took hold on Sunday as interior ministry security forces deployed on Sweida's outskirts. Interior Minister Anas Khattab said on Sunday the truce would allow for the release of hostages and detainees held by the warring sides. On Monday morning, ambulances, trucks and buses ferried hundreds of Bedouin civilians including women, children and wounded people out of Sweida to nearby displacement camps, Reuters footage showed. The initial batch included some 300 Bedouins and a second group of about 550 civilians will be evacuated within the next 24 hours if the situation remains calm, said Shoaib Asfour, a member of the Syrian security forces overseeing the evacuation. The next phase would see the evacuation of Bedouin fighters detained by Druze militias and the transfer of bodies of Bedouins killed in the fighting, Asfour said. Syria's state news agency said a total of 1,500 Bedouins would be evacuated from Sweida city. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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According to the United Nations, at least 93,000 people have been uprooted by the fighting - most of them within Sweida province but others to Daraa province to the west, or north to the countryside around the capital Damascus. The U.N. said on Sunday that humanitarian convoys with medical supplies had been waiting to enter Sweida for two days but were not granted access. It said only a convoy of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent had been allowed to enter. PRESSURES ON SYRIA'S MOSAIC The Druze are a small but influential minority in Syria, Israel and Lebanon who follow a religion that is an offshoot of a branch of Islam. Some ultra-conservative Sunni Muslims deem Druze beliefs to be heretical. The fighting began a week ago with clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters. Damascus sent troops to quell the fighting, but they were drawn into the violence and accused of widespread violations against the Druze. Residents of Sweida said friends and neighbours were shot at close range in their homes or in the streets by Syrian troops, identified by their fatigues and insignia. Luna Albassit, a Druze activist in the town of Shahba in Sweida province, said the situation after so much bloodshed remained tense despite the end to clashes late on Sunday. "People were killed in the streets, in their homes, they were humiliated and it was in the name of the state," she said. Hamzah Mustafa, Syria's information minister, told Reuters last week that the Damascus government strongly condemned all abuses and rejected sectarian violence in all its forms. Interim President al-Sharaa has promised to protect the rights of Druze and hold to account those who committed violations against "our Druze people". He has blamed the violence on "outlaw groups". After Israel bombed Syrian government forces in Sweida and hit the defence ministry in Damascus last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded the demilitarisation of southern Syrian territory near the border, stretching from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to the Druze Mountain, east of Sweida. He also said Israel would protect the Druze. REUTERS
Japan Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Today
Calm reported in Syria's Sweida; Damascus says truce holding
Members of Internal Security Forces stand guard at an Internal Security Forces' checkpoint working to prevent Bedouin fighters from advancing towards Sweida, following renewed fighting between Bedouin fighters and Druze gunmen, despite an announced truce, in Walgha, Sweida province, Syria, July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri Residents reported calm in Syria's Sweida on Sunday after the Islamist-led government announced that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and a U.S. envoy signalled that a deal to end days of fighting was being implemented. With hundreds reported killed, the Sweida bloodshed is a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, prompting Israel to launch airstrikes against government forces last week as it declared support for the Druze. Fighting continued on Saturday despite a ceasefire call. Interior Minister Anas Khattab said on Sunday that internal security forces had managed to calm the situation and enforce the ceasefire, "paving the way for a prisoner exchange and the gradual return of stability throughout the governorate". Reuters images showed interior ministry forces near the city, blocking the road in front of members of tribes congregated there. The Interior Ministry said late on Saturday that Bedouin fighters had left the city. U.S. envoy Tom Barrack said the sides had "navigated to a pause and cessation of hostilities". "The next foundation stone on a path to inclusion, and lasting de-escalation, is a complete exchange of hostages and detainees, the logistics of which are in process," he wrote on X. Kenan Azzam, a dentist, said there was an uneasy calm but the city's residents were struggling with a lack of water and electricity. "The hospitals are a disaster and out of service, and there are still so many dead and wounded," he said by phone. Another resident, Raed Khazaal, said aid was urgently needed. "Houses are destroyed ... The smell of corpses is spread throughout the national hospital," he said in a voice message to Reuters from Sweida. The Syrian state news agency said an aid convoy sent to the city by the government was refused entry while aid organised by the Syrian Red Crescent was let in. A source familiar with the situation said local factions in Sweida had turned back the government convoy. Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported on Sunday that Israel sent urgent medical aid to the Druze in Sweida and the step was coordinated with Washington and Syria. Spokespeople for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Foreign Ministry and the military did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Druze are a small but influential minority in Syria, Israel and Lebanon who follow a religion that is an offshoot of a branch of Shi'ite Islam. Some hardline Sunnis deem their beliefs heretical. The fighting began a week ago with clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters. Damascus sent troops to quell the fighting, but they were drawn into the violence and accused of widespread violations against the Druze. Residents of the predominantly Druze city said friends and neighbours were shot at close range in their homes or in the streets by Syrian troops, identified by their fatigues and insignia. Sharaa on Thursday promised to protect the rights of Druze and to hold to account those who committed violations against "our Druze people". He has blamed the violence on "outlaw groups". While Sharaa has won U.S. backing since meeting President Donald Trump in May, the violence has underscored the challenge he faces stitching back together a country shattered by 14 years of conflict, and added to pressures on its mosaic of sectarian and ethnic groups. COASTAL VIOLENCE After Israel bombed Syrian government forces in Sweida and hit the defence ministry in Damascus last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had established a policy demanding the demilitarisation of territory near the border, stretching from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to the Druze Mountain, east of Sweida. He also said Israel would protect the Druze. The United States however said it did not support the Israeli strikes. On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to the Sweida area for two days. A Syrian security source told Reuters that internal security forces had taken up positions near Sweida, establishing checkpoints in western and eastern parts of the province where retreating tribal fighters had gathered. On Sunday, Sharaa received the report of an inquiry into violence in Syria's coastal region in March, where Reuters reported in June that Syrian forces killed 1,500 members of the Alawite minority following attacks on security forces. The presidency said it would review the inquiry's conclusions and ensure steps to "bring about justice" and prevent the recurrence of "such violations". It called on the inquiry to hold a news conference on its findings - if appropriate - as soon as possible. The Syrian Network for Human Rights said on July 18 it had documented the deaths of at least 321 people in Sweida province since July 13. The preliminary toll included civilians, women, children, Bedouin fighters, members of local groups and members of the security forces, it said, and the dead included people killed in field executions by both sides. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, another monitoring group, has reported a death toll of at least 940 people. Reuters could not independently verify the tolls. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Japan Today
3 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Today
Clashes rage in Druze region as Syria struggles to enforce ceasefire
Bedouin fighters ride on motorbikes along a street, as Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence triggered by clashes between Bedouin fighters and factions from the Druze, at Sweida governorate, Syria, July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri By Laila Bassam Sectarian clashes escalated in Syria's predominantly Druze region of Sweida on Saturday, with machinegun fire and mortar shelling ringing out after days of bloodshed as the Islamist-led government struggled to implement a ceasefire. Reuters reporters heard gunfire from inside the city of Sweida and saw shells land in nearby villages. There were no immediate, confirmed reports of casualties. The government had said security forces were deploying in the southern region to try to keep peace, and urged all parties to stop fighting after nearly a week of factional bloodshed in which hundreds have been killed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said clashes since last week around Sweida had killed at least 940 people. Reuters could not independently verify the toll. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said "Arab and American" mediation had helped restore calm, before the clashes escalated. He criticised Israel for airstrikes during the week. The fighting is the latest challenge to the control of Sharaa's Islamist-dominated government, which took over after rebels toppled autocratic president Bashar al-Assad in December. It started last week as clashes between the Druze - a religious minority native to southern Syria, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and parts of Lebanon and Jordan - and Syrian Bedouin tribes. Government forces then arrived to try to quell tensions, clashing with Druze gunmen and attacking the Druze community. Saturday's violence once again pitted Druze against Bedouin, witnesses said. The fighting has drawn in neighboring Israel, which carried out airstrikes in southern Syria and on the Defence Ministry in Damascus this week while government forces were fighting with the Druze. Israel says it is protecting the Druze, who also form a significant minority in Israel. But Israel and Washington differ over Syria. The U.S. supports a centralised Syria under Sharaa's government, which has pledged to rule for all citizens, while Israel says the government is dominated by jihadists and a danger to minorities. In March, Syria's military was involved in mass killings of members of the Alawite minority, to which much of Assad's elite belonged. ISRAEL-SYRIA TENSIONS In a statement on Saturday, the Syrian presidency announced an immediate ceasefire and urged an immediate end to hostilities. The interior ministry said internal forces had begun deploying. Sharaa said Syria would not be a "testing ground for partition, secession, or sectarian incitement". "The Israeli intervention pushed the country into a dangerous phase that threatened its stability," he said in a televised speech. Sharaa appeared to blame Druze gunmen for the latest clashes, accusing them of revenge attacks against Bedouins. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Sharaa was siding with the perpetrators. "In al-Shara's Syria, it is very dangerous to be a member of a minority — Kurd, Druze, Alawite, or Christian," he posted on X. U.S. envoy Tom Barrack announced on Friday that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. Barrack, who is both U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Washington's Syria envoy, urged Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis, together with other minorities, to "build a new and united Syrian identity". Israel has attacked Syrian military facilities in the seven months since Assad fell, and says it wants areas of southern Syria near its border to remain demilitarised. On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel had agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to Sweida for two days. Mansour Namour, a resident of a village near Sweida city, said mortar shells were still landing near his home on Saturday afternoon, and that at least 22 people had been wounded. A doctor in Sweida said a local hospital was full of bodies and wounded people from days of violence. "All the injuries are from bombs, some people with their chests wounded. There are also injuries to limbs from shrapnel," said Omar Obeid, director of the hospital. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Israel, Syria agree to ceasefire after deadly clashes in Druze region
Syrian security forces walk together along a street, after clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters resumed in the southern Druze city of Sweida early on Wednesday, collapsing a ceasefire announced just hours earlier that aimed to put an end to days of deadly sectarian bloodshed, in Sweida, Syria July 16, 2025. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri/File Photo Listen to article Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire, the US envoy to Turkey said on Friday, after days of bloodshed in the predominantly Druze area that has killed over 300 people. On Wednesday, Israel launched airstrikes in Damascus and hit government forces in the south, demanding they withdraw and saying that Israel aimed to protect Syrian Druze - part of a small but influential minority that also has members in Lebanon and Israel. "We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity," Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey, said in a post on X. BREAKTHROUGH —— Israeli Prime Minister @Netanyahu and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa @SyPresidency supported by the U.S.A. @SecRubio have agreed to a ceasefire embraced by Türkiye, Jordan and its neighbors. We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and… — Ambassador Tom Barrack (@USAMBTurkiye) July 18, 2025 Barrack said that Israel and Syria agreed to the ceasefire supported by Turkey, Jordan and neighbors. The Israeli embassy in Washington and Syrian consulate in Canada did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Syria's Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence triggered by clashes between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions. Earlier on Friday, an Israeli official said Israel agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to the Sweida area of southern Syria for the next two days. The Syrian presidency said late on Friday that authorities would deploy a force in the south dedicated to ending the clashes, in coordination with political and security measures to restore stability and prevent the return of violence. Damascus earlier this week dispatched government 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. Israel had repeatedly said it would not allow Syrian troops to deploy to the country's south, but on Friday it said it would grant them a brief window to end renewed clashes there. A Bedouin fighter holds a weapon as he stands along a street, as Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence triggered by clashes between Bedouin fighters and factions from the Druze, at Sweida governorate, Syria, July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri "In light of the ongoing instability in southwest Syria, Israel has agreed to allow limited entry of the (Syrian) internal security forces into Sweida district for the next 48 hours," the official, who declined to be named, told reporters. Describing Syria's new rulers as barely disguised jihadists, Israel has vowed to shield the area's Druze community from attack, encouraged by calls from Israel's own Druze minority. It carried out more strikes on Sweida in the early hours of Friday. The US intervened to help secure the earlier truce between government forces and Druze fighters, and the White House said on Thursday that it appeared to be holding. Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has worked to establish warmer ties with the US, accused Israel of trying to fracture Syria and promised to protect its Druze minority. Smoke rises as a damaged car remains along a street, as Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence triggered by clashes between Bedouin fighters and factions from the Druze, at Sweida governorate, Syria, July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri Reuters reporters saw a convoy of units from Syria's interior ministry stopped on a road in Daraa province, which lies directly east of Sweida. A security source told Reuters that forces were awaiting a final green light to enter Sweida. But thousands of Bedouin fighters were still streaming into Sweida on Friday, the Reuters reporters said, prompting fears among residents that violence would continue unabated. The Syrian Network for Human Rights said it had documented 321 deaths in fighting since Sunday, among them medical personnel, women and children. It said they included field executions by all sides. Syria's minister for emergencies said more than 500 wounded had been treated and hundreds of families had been evacuated out of the city. Clashes continued in the north and west of Sweida province, according to residents and Ryan Marouf, the head of local news outlet Sweida24. Residents said they had little food and water, and that electricity had been cut to the city for several days. "For four days, there has been no electricity, no fuel, no food, no drink, nothing at all," said Mudar, a 28-year-old resident of Sweida who asked to be identified only by his first name out of fear of reprisals. "The clashes haven't stopped," he said, adding that "we can't get news easily because there's barely internet or phone coverage." The head of the UN human rights office urged Syria's interim authorities to ensure accountability for what it said are credible reports of widespread rights violations during the fighting, including summary executions and kidnappings, the office said in a statement. At least 13 people were unlawfully killed in one recorded incident on Tuesday when affiliates of the interim authorities opened fire at a family gathering, the OHCHR said. Six men were summarily executed near their homes the same day. The UN refugee agency on Friday urged all sides to allow humanitarian access, which it said had been curtailed by the violence. Israel's deep distrust of Syria's new Islamist-led leadership appears to be at odds with the United States, which said it did not support the recent Israeli strikes on Syria.
