Armed tribes supported by Syria’s Islamist-led government clashed with Druze fighters in the Sweida province on Friday, a day after the army withdrew under Israeli bombardment and diplomatic pressure. The UN called for an end to the “bloodshed” and demanded an “independent” investigation of the violence, which has claimed at least 638 lives since Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The renewed fighting raised questions over the authority of Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose interim government also has difficult relations with Kurdish and Alawite minorities. It was Sharaa who ordered government forces to pull out, saying that mediation by the US and others had helped avert a “large-scale escalation” with Israel.
Renewed violence erupted on Friday between Bedouin tribal factions and Druze fighters at the entrance to Sweida, an AFP correspondent said. About 200 tribal fighters clashed with armed Druze men using machine guns and shells, while SOHR also reported fighting and “shelling on neighbourhoods in Sweida city”.
The humanitarian situation in Sweida is critical. Omar Obeid, a doctor at the government hospital, told AFP that the facility has received “more than 400 bodies since Monday morning”, adding: “There is no more room in the morgue, the bodies are in the street.” The UN’s International Organisation for Migration said 79,339 people have been displaced since 13 July.
Tribal groups from across Syria gathered in villages around Sweida to reinforce local Bedouin. Anas al-Enad, a tribal chief from Hama, said he and his men had made the journey because “the Bedouin called for our help and we came to support them”. The UK-based SOHR said the deployment of tribal fighters was facilitated by government forces, as they are unable to deploy to Sweida under the terms of a security agreement with Israel.
Israel, which bombed Syrian military positions in Sweida and Damascus earlier this week, said on Friday it was sending aid to the Druze community, including food parcels and medical supplies. The US ambassador to Turkey said Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “have agreed to a ceasefire” negotiated by the US and backed by Ankara, but the deal has not been confirmed by either Syria or Israel.
