Syrian government forces set to reenter Sweida province after renewed Druze-Bedouin clashes

MAZRAA, Syria — Renewed clashes broke out overnight between Druze armed groups and members of Bedouin clans in southern Syria, and government forces were preparing to deploy again to the area Friday after pulling out under a ceasefire agreement that halted several days of violence earlier this week, officials said.

Government security forces agreed with some of the Druze factions that they would re-enter the area to impose stability and protect state institutions, according to two Syrian officials who spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Thousands of people remained displaced by the violence and the United Nations has been unable to bring in much-needed humanitarian and medical aid because of ongoing clashes.

A complex conflict

Syrian government forces 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 U.S., 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 Thursday.

The clashes initially began between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes 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.

Renewed fighting and displacement

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.''

The U.N. humanitarian affairs coordination office said nearly 2,000 families had been displaced by the fighting as of Thursday.

In Sweida ''there are severe disruptions to supply routes, with insecurity and road closures blocking aid deliveries," Adam Abdelmoula, U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator in Syria, said in a statement Friday.

The World Health Organization was able to send trauma care supplies to Daraa province, but Sweida remains inaccessible, he said.

''Once conditions allow, we are planning to send a mission to assess needs and provide critical aid, in full coordination with authorities,'' Abdelmoula said.

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."

Problems that ‘have no reason'

The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.

While predominantly Druze, Sweida is also home to Bedouin tribes who are Sunni Muslim and have periodically clashed with the Druze over the years. The latest escalation began with members of a Bedouin tribe in Sweida setting up a checkpoint and attacking and robbing a Druze man, which triggered tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings.

Ahmed Aba Zeid, a Syrian researcher who has studied armed groups in southern Syria, said there is ''no specific reason'' for the historic tensions between the groups.

''All of Syria is full of social problems that have no reason,'' he said.

In this case, however, ''The state exploited the latest problem to try to change the situation in Sweida, and this only increased the scope of it,'' he said.

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Sewell reported from Beirut.