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Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Syrian government says fighting in Sweida halted after tribal forces pull out
Fighting in Syria's Sweida 'halted' on Sunday, the government said, after the southern city was recaptured by Druze fighters and state forces redeployed to the region where scores have been killed in sectarian violence. Druze fighters had pushed out rival armed factions from the city on Saturday, a monitor said, after the government ordered a ceasefire following a US-brokered deal to avert further Israeli military intervention. Sweida was 'evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city's neighborhoods were halted,' Syria's interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said in a post on Telegram. Israel had bombed government forces in both Sweida and Damascus earlier this week to force their withdrawal after they were accused of summary executions and other abuses against Druze civilians during their brief deployment in the southern province. Scores have been killed in Sweida since last Sunday as sectarian clashes between the Druze and Bedouin drew in the government, Israel and armed tribes from other parts of Syria. Earlier Saturday, an AFP correspondent saw dozens of torched homes and vehicles and armed men setting fire to shops after looting them. But in the evening, Bassem Fakhr, spokesman for the Men of Dignity, one of the two largest Druze armed groups, told AFP there was 'no Bedouin presence in the city.' Fighting nonetheless persisted in other parts of Sweida province, even as the Druze regained control of their city following days of fierce battle with armed Bedouin supported by tribal gunmen from other parts of Syria. The deal between the government and Israel had been announced by Washington early Saturday. US pointman on Syria Tom Barrack said President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'have agreed to a ceasefire' negotiated by the United States. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later called on the Syrian government's security forces to prevent extremists from entering and 'carrying out massacres,' in a post on X. He also urged the Syrian government to 'hold accountable and bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks.' Barrack, who is the US ambassador to Ankara, said the deal had the backing of Turkey, a key supporter of al-Sharaa, as well as neighboring Jordan. Barrack later held a meeting in Amman with the Syrian and Jordanian top diplomats, during which they 'agreed on practical steps to support Syria in implementing the agreement,' the US envoy said in a later post on X. Al-Sharaa followed up on the US announcement with a televised speech in which he announced an immediate ceasefire in Sweida and renewed his pledge to protect Syria's ethnic and religious minorities. 'The Syrian state is committed to protecting all minorities and communities in the country... We condemn all crimes committed' in Sweida, he said. The president paid tribute to the 'important role played by the United States, which again showed its support for Syria in these difficult circumstances and its concern for the country's stability.' Syria's Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa on Saturday evening said that after the first phase of the ceasefire, which began on Saturday and involved the deployment of security forces to the province, a second phase would see the opening of humanitarian corridors. According to the United Nations, the fighting has displaced least 87,000 people.
Al Bawaba
3 days ago
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
Clashes in Southern Syria killed at least 1,000: SOHR
ALBAWABA - A Syrian human rights organization revealed on Sunday that the death toll from violence that erupted in the past few days in the south reached over 1,000. Also Read What's the current situation in Sweida, Syria? The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) revealed that more than 1000 people were killed since last Sunday. The figure includes 336 Druze armed men and "298 civilians from the religious minority group, 194 of whom were "summarily executed by defence and interior ministry personnel". توجّهتُ صباح اليوم الأحد 20 تموز إلى أطراف محافظة السويداء برفقة وفد رسمي يضمّ وزير الصحة، ووزيرة الشؤون الاجتماعية ومحافظ السويداء، وممثلين عن وزارة الخارجية ومحافظة درعا، بالإضافة إلى مدير الهلال الأحمر العربي السوري، وبمشاركة من منظمات دولية مثل الصحة العالمية، اليونيسف،… — Raed Al Saleh ( رائد الصالح ) (@RaedAlSaleh3) July 20, 2025 Nonetheless, the Observatory mentioned that 342 government security personnel and 21 Sunni Bedouin, three of them civilians, were "summarily executed by Druze fighters". Another 15 government forces were killed in Israeli attacks, it said. The Syrian Ministry of Interior said in a statement on Saturday evening that all tribal fighters have left the city of Sweida, adding that clashes within the city's neighborhoods have stopped, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported. Ministry of Interior spokesperson Noureddine Al-Baba added in a statement: "After intensive efforts by the Ministry of Interior to implement the ceasefire agreement, following the deployment of its forces in the northern and western regions of Sweida Governorate, the city of Sweida has been evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city's neighborhoods have ceased."
Al Bawaba
4 days ago
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
What's the current situation in Sweida, Syria?
ALBAWABA - The Syrian Ministry of Interior said in a statement on Saturday evening that all tribal fighters have left the city of Sweida, adding that clashes within the city's neighborhoods have stopped, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported. Ministry of Interior spokesperson Noureddine Al-Baba added in a statement: "After intensive efforts by the Ministry of Interior to implement the ceasefire agreement, following the deployment of its forces in the northern and western regions of Sweida Governorate, the city of Sweida has been evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city's neighborhoods have ceased." Tribal forces pull out of Sweida, fighting halted: The Syrian Tribal Council confirmed the withdrawal of all its fighters from Sweida city in implementation of the presidency's directives regarding the ceasefire agreement, Alikhbaria Syria channel mentioned. During Saturday clashes between local Druze factions, Syrian Ministry of Defense personnel, and Bedouin militants in the countryside of Sweida Governorate, at least 181 Druze were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory said 25 members of the Syrian Ministry of Defense, Public Security, and Bedouin militants were killed on July 19. Earlier on Saturday, the Syrian presidency revealed a new deal with local factions that includes a "comprehensive and immediate ceasefire" in Sweida. The presidency warned that any violation of this agreement constitutes a "clear violation of national sovereignty and will be met with the necessary legal measures in accordance with the constitution and applicable laws." Druze fighters pushed out rival armed factions from Syria's southern city of Sweida on Saturday, a monitor said, after the government ordered a ceasefire following a US-brokered deal to avert further Israeli military — AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 19, 2025 On the other hand, Syria's Deputy Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management, Ahmed Quraiz, announced early Saturday morning that Hamza Al-Amarin, the director of the Civil Defense Center in Sweida, had been kidnapped, and his fate is unknown. Quraiz revealed that the director of the Civil Defense Center in Sweida had attempted to enter an area to evacuate a United Nations team, but he disappeared.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Syrian presidency declares ‘comprehensive' ceasefire in Sweida after deadly clashes
The Syrian presidency has declared an 'immediate and comprehensive' ceasefire in Sweida, saying internal security forces had been deployed in the southern province after almost a week of fighting in the predominantly Druze area which has killed more than 700 people. Armed tribes had clashed with Druze fighters on Friday, a day after the army withdrew under Israeli bombardment and diplomatic pressure. The presidency also said in a statement on Saturday that any breaches of the ceasefire would be a 'clear violation to sovereignty', and urged all parties to commit to it and end hostilities in all areas immediately. Syria's internal security forces had begun deploying in Sweida 'with the aim of protecting civilians and putting an end to the chaos', the interior ministry spokesperson Noureddine al-Baba said in a statement on Telegram. A statement on Saturday by one of the three religious leaders of the Syrian Druze community, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, said the ceasefire would guarantee safe exit for community members and the opening of humanitarian corridors for besieged civilians to leave. The US special envoy, Thomas Barrack, had announced hours earlier that Israel and Syria had agreed to a ceasefire, after Israel sided with the Druze factions and joined the conflict, including by bombing a government building in Damascus. The UN had also called for an end to the fighting and demanded an independent investigation of the violence, which has killed at least 718 people from both sides since Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The SOHR reported on Friday that the humanitarian situation in Sweida had 'dramatically deteriorated' owing to an acute shortage of food and medical supplies. All hospitals were out of service because of the conflict and looting was widespread in the city. 'The situation in the hospital is disastrous. The corpses have begun to rot, there's a huge amount of bodies, among them women and children,' a surgeon at Sweida national hospital said over the phone. The renewed fighting raised questions about the authority of the Syrian leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose interim government faces misgivings from the country's minorities after the killing of 1,500 mostly Alawite civilians on the Syrian coast in March. It was Sharaa who ordered government forces to pull out of Sweida, saying that mediation by the US and others had helped to avert a 'large-scale escalation' with Israel. A number of sources told Reuters that Sharaa had initially misread how Israel would respond to him deploying troops to the country's south earlier this week, having been encouraged by the Barrack saying Syria should be centrally governed as one country. When Israel targeted Syrian troops and Damascus on Wednesday, bombarding the Syrian defence ministry headquarters in the centre of the capital and striking near the presidential palace, it took the Syrian government by surprise, the sources said. Druze people are seen as a loyal minority within Israel and often serve in its military. An Israeli military spokesperson said the strikes were a message to Syria's president regarding the events in Sweida. But the Syrian government mistakenly believed it had a green light from the US and Israel to dispatch its forces south despite months of Israeli warnings not to do so, according to the Reuters sources, which included Syrian political and military officials, two diplomats and regional security sources. The violence erupted last Sunday after the kidnapping of a Druze vegetable merchant by local Bedouin triggered tit-for-tat abductions, the SOHR said. The government sent in the army, promising to put a halt to the fighting, but witnesses and the SOHR said the troops had sided with the Bedouin and committed many abuses against Druze civilians as well as fighters. The organisation reported that 19 civilians had been killed in an 'horrific massacre' when Syrian defence ministry forces and general security forces entered the town of Sahwat al-Balatah. A truce was negotiated on Wednesday after the Israeli bombardment, allowing Druze factions and clerics to maintain security in Sweida as government forces pulled out. Sharaa said in a speech on Thursday that Druze groups would be left to govern security affairs in the southern province in what he described as a choice to avoid war. 'We sought to avoid dragging the country into a new, broader war that could derail it from its path to recovery from the devastating war,' he said. 'We chose the interests of Syrians over chaos and destruction.' But clashes resumed on Thursday as Syrian state media reported that Druze groups had launched revenge attacks on Bedouin villages. Bedouin tribes had fought alongside government forces against Druze fighters earlier in the week. On Friday, about 200 tribal fighters clashed with armed Druze men from Sweida using machine guns and shells, an Agence France-Presse correspondent said, while the SOHR reported fighting and 'shelling on neighbourhoods in Sweida city'. Sweida has been heavily damaged in the fighting and its mainly Druze inhabitants have been deprived of water and electricity. Communication lines have also been cut. Rayan Maarouf, the editor-in-chief of the local news outlet Suwayda 24, said the humanitarian situation was 'catastrophic'. 'We cannot find milk for children,' he told AFP. The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, has demanded 'independent, prompt and transparent investigations into all violations' adding that 'those responsible must be held to account'. The International Committee for the Red Cross said 'health facilities are overwhelmed, medical supplies are dwindling and power cuts are impeding the preservation of human remains in overflowing morgues'. 'The humanitarian situation in Sweida is critical. People are running out of everything,' said Stephan Sakalian, the head of ICRC's delegation in Syria. Syria's minority groups have been given what many see as only token representation in the interim government since the former president Bashar al-Assad fled the country, according to Bassam Alahmad, the executive director of Syrians for Truth and Justice, a civil society organisation. 'It's a transitional period. We should have a dialogue, and they [the minorities] should feel that they're a real part of the state,' Alahmad said. Instead, the incursion into Sweida sent a message that the new authorities would use military force to 'control every part of Syria'. 'Bashar Assad tried this way' and failed, he said. Government supporters, however, fear its decision to withdraw could signal to other minorities that it is acceptable to demand their own autonomous regions, which they say would fragment and weaken the country. If Damascus ceded security control of Sweida to the Druze, 'of course everyone else is going to demand the same thing', said Abdel Hakim al-Masri, a former official in the Turkish-backed regional government in north-west Syria before Assad's fall. 'This is what we are afraid of,' he told the Associated Press.
Arab News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Syrian security forces begin deploying in Sweida province: ministry
DAMASCUS: Syrian security forces have begun deploying in the Druze-majority province of Sweida, where sectarian violence has left more than 700 people dead, the interior ministry said on Saturday. 'Internal security forces have begun deploying in Sweida province... with the aim of protecting civilians and putting an end to the chaos,' ministry spokesman Noureddine Al-Baba said in a statement on Telegram.
