Syria tribes clash with Druze fighters near Sweida

Armed tribes supported by Syria’s government clashed with Druze fighters outside Sweida on Friday a day after government troops withdrew from the Druze-majority city, the warring parties and a monitoring group said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported “clashes west of Sweida pitting tribal fighters and Bedouin supported by the authorities on one side, against Druze fighters on the other”.

Combatants on both sides confirmed the clashes and AFP correspondents reported hearing exchanges of fire.

Syrian government forces withdrew from Sweida province on Thursday after coming under heavy bombardment by Israel.

The pullout from Syria’s Druze heartland came on the orders of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who said mediation by the United States and others had helped avert a “large-scale escalation” with Israel.

Nearly 600 people have been killed in Sweida province since Sunday, according to the Observatory, as Druze fighters clashed with Bedouin tribes, who were later joined by government forces.

A ceasefire took effect on Thursday, but Sharaa’s office accused Druze groups of violating the agreement.

Tribal fighters gathered around Sweida on Friday to reinforce the Bedouin, positioning themselves in several villages near the city.

AFP correspondents heard intermittent gunfire and explosions and saw smoke rising from the villages.

Druze fighters told the media they were responding to the sources of fire.

Anas Al-Enad, a tribal chief from the central city of Hama, said he and his men had made the journey to the village of Walgha, northwest of Sweida, because “the Bedouin called for our help and we came to support them”.

Syrian government forces had largely pulled out of the Druze-majority southern province of Sweida after days of clashes with militias linked to the Druze religious minority that threatened to unravel the country’s fragile post-war transition.

The conflict drew airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel in defense of the Druze minority before most of the fighting was halted by a truce announced Wednesday that was mediated by the US, Turkey and Arab countries. Under that agreement, Druze factions and clerics would be left to maintain internal security in Sweida, Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa said on Thursday.

The clashes initially began between Druze militias and local Bedouin tribes on Sunday before government forces intervened, nominally to restore order, but ended up taking the Bedouins’ side against the Druze. The fighting killed hundreds of people over four days, with allegations that government-affiliated fighters executed Druze civilians and looted and burned homes.

Israel intervened, launching dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters and striking the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in central Damascus in a major escalation of its involvement.

The Druze form a substantial community in Israel, where they are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the Israeli military.

After the ceasefire and withdrawal of government forces, clashes once again flared between the Druze and Bedouin groups in parts of Sweida province. State media reported Druze militias carried out revenge attacks against Bedouin communities, leading to a wave of displacement.

The governor of neighboring Daraa province said in a statement that more than 1,000 families had been displaced to the area from Sweida as a result of “attacks on Bedouin tribes by outlaw groups.”

Meanwhile, Bedouin groups arrived Friday from other areas of Syria to join the fight.

On the outskirts of Sweida, groups of them gathered in front of buildings that had been set ablaze. An armed man who gave his name only as Abu Mariam (“father of Mariam”) said he had come from the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor to “support the oppressed.”

“We will not return to our homes until we crush Al-Hijri and his ilk,” he said, referring to a prominent Druze leader opposed to the government in Damascus, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri. “We have nothing to do with civilians and innocent people as long as they stay in their homes.”

Agence France-Presse