Latest news with #SyrianObservatoryforHumanRights
L'Orient-Le Jour
22 minutes ago
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Syria troops leave Sweida after deadly clashes
Syrian government forces have withdrawn from the whole of Sweida province after days of sectarian bloodshed in the heartland of the Druze minority, a war monitor and witnesses said Thursday. The pullout came after Islamist interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said in a televised address that "responsibility" for security in Sweida would be handed to religious elders and some local factions, "based on the supreme national interest." "The Syrian authorities have withdrawn their military forces from the city of Sweida and the whole province, and Druze fighters have deployed" in their place, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. Government troops who had pulled out of the province told AFP that the order to withdraw came shortly before midnight (2100 GMT Wednesday) and they completed their pullout at dawn. "The city of Sweida seems devoid of any government forces presence," the editor in chief of the Suwayda 24 news website, Rayan Maarouf, told AFP. Government forces had deployed to the city on Tuesday with the stated aim of overseeing a truce, following days of deadly clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes. But witnesses said government forces had instead joined the Bedouin in attacking Druze fighters and civilians. Neighboring Israel responded with strikes on the Syrian military, including its headquarters in Damascus, which it warned would intensify until the Islamist-led government withdrew its forces from the south. Israel, which is home to around 150,000 Druze citizens, has repeatedly stated its intention to defend the Druze of Syria in bouts of sectarian violence that have broken out since the Islamist now in power in Damascus toppled longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December. The Israeli military, which has taken control of the UN-monitored demilitarized zone on the Golan Heights and conducted hundreds of strikes on military targets in Syria, also says it will not allow any Syrian military presence on its border. Despite having initiated contact, Israel remains extremely wary of Syria's new rulers, including Sharaa whose Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham movement was once linked to Al-Qaeda.
L'Orient-Le Jour
22 minutes ago
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Death toll from violence in southern Syria exceeds 500
Violence in southern Syria has left over 500 people dead, according to a new tally published Thursday by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), after several days of clashes. The SOHR counted among the victims 79 Druze fighters and 154 civilians from Sweida, including 83 people "summarily executed by members of the Defense and Interior ministries." The fighting, which began Sunday, also claimed the lives of 243 members of government forces and 18 Bedouin fighters, as well as three Bedouin tribesmen "summarily executed by Druze fighters," according to the NGO. In addition, 15 government forces members were killed in Israeli strikes.
L'Orient-Le Jour
22 minutes ago
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Troops quit Druze heartland leaving bodies on streets
Syrian troops pulled out of the Druze heartland province of Sweida Thursday on orders from the Islamist-led government, leaving bodies strewn on the street, AFP journalists reported from the provincial capital. The southern province has been gripped by deadly sectarian bloodshed since Sunday, with hundreds reportedly killed in clashes pitting Druze fighters against Sunni Bedouin tribes and the army and its allies. In a televised speech, Islamist interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa said community leaders would resume control over security in Sweida after the deployment of government troops on Tuesday fuelled the sectarian bloodshed and prompted Israeli military intervention. Government troops told AFP that the order to withdraw came shortly before midnight (2100 GMT Wednesday) and they completed their pullout from the province at dawn. An AFP photographer counted 15 bodies on the street in the centre of Sweida on Thursday after government forces pulled out. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said more than 370 people have been killed in sectarian clashes in the city since Sunday. Israel had pounded government troops with air strikes during their brief deployment to the southern province and also struck army headquarters in Damascus, warning that its strikes would intensify until the Islamist-led government pulled back. Sharaa announced in a televised address that "responsibility" for security in Sweida would be returned to community leaders "based on the supreme national interest". Promise of 'protection' Sharaa, whose Islamist-led interim government has had troubled relations with ethnic and religious minority groups since it toppled veteran leader Bashar al-Assad in December, also pledged to protect the Druze. "We are keen on holding accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people, as they are under the protection and responsibility of the state," he said. March saw massacres of more than 1,700 mostly Alawite civilians in their hub on the Mediterranean coast, with government-affiliated groups blamed for most of the killings. Government forces also battled Druze fighters in Sweida province and near Damascus in April and May, leaving more than 100 people dead. Government troops had entered Sweida on Tuesday with the stated aim of overseeing a truce, following days of deadly sectarian clashes. But witnesses said government forces had instead joined the Bedouin in attacking Druze fighters and civilians. Addressing the Druze, Sharaa attempted to reassure the minority community, vowing that "protecting your rights and freedom is one of our priorities". US mediation He hit out at Israel's military intervention which saw it strike army headquarters in Damascus on Wednesday after repeated strikes on Syrian government troops during their brief deployment in Sweida. But the Syrian leader, who met briefly with U.S. President Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, also thanked Washington for its role in brokering a diplomatic solution. "The Israeli entity resorted to a wide-scale targeting of civilian and government facilities," that would 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", Sharaa said. The United States — a close ally of Israel that has been trying to reboot its relationship with Syria —said an agreement had been reached to restore calm in the area, urging "all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made". Secretary of State Marco Rubio said all sides had "agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end". "This will require all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made and this is what we fully expect them to do," he posted on X. Israel, which has its own Druze community, has presented itself as a defender of the Syrian minority, although some analysts say that is a pretext for pursuing its own military goal of keeping Syrian government forces as far away as possible from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel, which is home to around 150,000 Druze citizens, has repeatedly stated its intention to defend Syria's Druze community. The Israeli military, which has taken control of the U.N.-monitored demilitarised zone on the Golan Heights and conducted hundreds of strikes on military targets in Syria, also says it will not allow any Syrian military presence in the south. Despite having initiated contact with a first face-to-face meeting in Azerbaijan earlier this month, Israel remains extremely wary of Syria's new rulers, including Sharaa whose Hayat Tahrir al-Sham movement was once linked to Al-Qaeda.
L'Orient-Le Jour
22 minutes ago
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Clashes in Sweida: Salam and Joumblatt urge 'restraint' in Lebanon
BEIRUT — Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam urged 'restraint' during a phone call with Druze leader Walid Joumblatt on Thursday, following recent clashes in Sweida, southern Syria, between Sunday and Wednesday. According to the Grand Serail, Salam and Joumblatt insisted on the importance "of preserving Syria's unity and promoting understanding among all its citizens under the authority of the Syrian state." They also underscored "the need, in Lebanon, to act with wisdom and restraint, and to avoid reactions likely to trigger internal tensions among citizens of the same country." The head of government also praised the efforts undertaken by the Druze leader to "prevent any internal incident that threatens the country's stability and the restoration of state authority, which remains the reference point for all Lebanese." The clashes in Sweida have left more than 350 dead since Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The violence broke out between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes, prompting government forces to intervene in support of the latter and to deploy in the city. On Wednesday night, a new cease-fire was declared and government forces withdrew from the region, following in particular a series of heavy Israeli strikes on Damascus and southern Syria. Israel said it conducted the strike to support the Druze. In the aftermath, in Lebanon, former Lebanese minister Wi'am Wahhab, head of the Druze Tawhid Party, announced Tuesday the creation of a new armed formation called the "Tawhid Army," calling for "armed resistance." On Wednesday, Salam had already called on the Lebanese to "steer clear of discord and prioritize the supreme national interest," after an altercation broke out between several youths and a man dressed in traditional Druze attire in the village of Marj, in the Bekaa. Solidarity gatherings with the Druze of Sweida took place Wednesday in the Bekaa and other regions of the country, while in the afternoon dozens gathered for a sit-in in Tripoli's al-Nour Square in support of the Damascus regime and to condemn the Israeli bombings.
L'Orient-Le Jour
22 minutes ago
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Government forces withdraw from Druze-majority in Sweida
Syrian government forces have withdrawn from the entire Druze-majority province of Sweida in southern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) and witnesses told AFP on Thursday. The withdrawal of government forces comes after a cease-fire agreement announced on Wednesday. Interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa announced overnight the transfer of "security responsibility to local factions" in Suwayda, the scene of communal clashes that have left more than 350 dead since Sunday. "The Syrian authorities have withdrawn their military forces from the city of Suwayda and the entire province, and Druze fighters have deployed," SOHR director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. Members of government forces told an AFP correspondent stationed on the outskirts of Suwayda province that they had received orders to withdraw shortly before midnight and had completed their pullout by dawn. "The city of Sweida appears empty of all government forces," Rayan Maarouf, editor-in-chief of the local website Suwayda 24, told AFP, adding that the situation was "catastrophic, and bodies litter the streets". Clashes between Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters, whose relations have been tense for decades, broke out Sunday. The Syrian government deployed forces to the region on Tuesday with the stated goal of restoring order. But SOHR, witnesses and Druze groups accused it of fighting the Druze factions. Israel, hostile to any Syrian military presence near its border and saying it wants to protect the Druze community, responded by bombing Damascus and other areas of the country. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce on Wednesday called on the Syrian government to leave the conflict zone in the south of the country to ease tensions with Israel.
