Latest news with #Vall
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Syria evacuates Bedouins from clashes-hit Suwayda as shaky ceasefire holds
The Syrian government is evacuating hundreds of Bedouin families trapped inside the southern city of Suwayda, where a fragile ceasefire is holding after Druze and Bedouin fighters fought for a week. The first Bedouin families left on Monday on buses and trucks accompanied by Syrian Arab Red Crescent vehicles and ambulances. They were taken to nearby Daraa as the government plans to evacuate 1,500 people. 'At least 500 people have already left on 10 buses this morning, and more are expected to exit Suwayda in the next few hours,' Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall said about noon (09:00 GMT) on Monday in a report from the capital, Damascus. The clashes between the Druze minority and Bedouin clans, which began on July 13, killed nearly 260 people and threatened to unravel Syria's post-war transition. The violence also displaced 128,571 people, according to the United Nations International Organisation for Migration. Israel intervened and launched air attacks on Syria's Ministry of Defence buildings in the heart of Damascus. Israeli forces also hit Syrian government forces in Suwayda province, claiming it was protecting the Druze, whom it calls its 'brothers'.Vall said some Bedouin families were evacuating the province voluntarily. 'There are seven districts of Suwayda that are inhabited partly or … mostly by Arab Bedouins, and they are all under threat – or they feel under threat – and some of them are willing to leave [on their own],' he said. Syrian Interior Minister Ahmad al-Dalati told the SANA news agency that the evacuation process will also allow displaced civilians from Suwayda to return as efforts for a complete ceasefire are under way. 'We have imposed a security cordon in the vicinity of Suwayda to keep it secure and to stop the fighting there,' al-Dalati told the agency. 'This will preserve the path that will lead to reconciliation and stability in the province.' According to the United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, the ceasefire agreed on Saturday says the Bedouin fighters will release Druze women they are holding captive and leave the province. After talks for a captives swap fell through late on Sunday, the observatory and activist groups in Suwayda reported hearing what they said were Israeli air strikes and helicopters over villages where some skirmishes took place between the Bedouins and the Druze. The Israeli military said it was 'not aware' of any overnight strikes in Syria. Meanwhile, an initial Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy entered Suwayda on Sunday, carrying UN humanitarian assistance, including food, water, medical supplies and fuel, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has tried to appeal to the Druze community while slamming its factions loyal to spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri who have been involved in the clashes. He promised to hold accountable perpetrators of targeted attacks and other violations. The Druze minority largely celebrated the downfall in December of the al-Assad family, which ruled Syria for 53 years. But al-Hijri, who had some allegiance to deposed President Bashar al-Assad in the past, and his supporters have taken a more confrontational approach with al-Sharaa, contrary to most other influential Druze figures.
Gulf Insider
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Gulf Insider
Nearly 1,000 Killed In Clashes In Syria's South, With 80,000 Displaced
The death toll from a past week of spiraling violence in Syria's Sweida province, a stronghold of the Druze minority – which also has a presence of Christians – has climbed to 940 since last weekend, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, despite a recent declared ceasefire. Among the dead are 326 Druze fighters and 262 Druze civilians, including 182 reportedly executed on the spot by forces from Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham government fighters. The Observatory also reported the deaths of 312 government security forces and 21 Sunni Bedouins—three of whom were civilians allegedly executed by Druze fighters. Additionally, some 15 Syrian government troops were killed in Israeli airstrikes amid the intermittent intervention by Israeli warplanes. Damascus announced a ceasefire early on Saturday, saying in a statement the truce is badly needed in order 'to spare Syrian blood, preserve the unity of Syrian territory, the safety of its people.' In a televised address, the country's self-appointed president Ahmed al-Sharaa stated that he 'received international calls to intervene in what is happening in Suwayda and restore security to the country.' He described that Israeli military intervention has 'reignited tensions' in the city of Sweida, with fighting there at 'a dangerous turning point.' Interestingly he also at one point thanked the United States for its support. Al Jazeera has observed that tens of thousands have been fleeing the fighting: According to Syria's Health Ministry, the death toll from fighting in the Druze-majority city is now at least 260. An estimated 80,000 people have fled the area, according to the International Organization for Migration. 'A lot of extrajudicial killings [are] being reported,' said Vall. 'People are suffering, even those who have been killed or forced to flee, they don't have electricity, they don't have water, because most of those services have been badly affected by the fighting.' Government forces further say they want to defeat Druze leaders who have allied themselves with a foreign power – Israel. Israel has of late made no secret that it is backing the Druze cause, but critics see Netanyahu expansionist 'divide and rule' policies at work. HTS has just taken off the US-designated terrorism list earlier this month, after Trump had posed with its leader Sharaa (Jolani, who had earlier been a member of ISIS) while visiting Riyadh, expressing hope that he'll make for a good post-Assad ruler. HTS fighters have lately been massacring Druze, Christians, and Alawites – waging war against non-Sunni minorities.
