Sweida was the scene of a rapidly escalating conflict between Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes and the Druze, a non-Muslim religious minority, in mid-July. The central government in Damascus sent in troops to restore the peace, but the Druze said those government forces teamed up with the Bedouin to massacre Druze. Israel, which has its own sizable Druze population, intervened to protect the Druze of Sweida by bombing Syrian military convoys. The Trump administration brokered a ceasefire deal that left Sweida’s capital city in the hands of the Druze. Roughly 1,400 casualties had been reported by the time the ceasefire took effect.
According to Syrian state television, Druze militia fighters attacked Syrian security forces near Sweida on Saturday. A security official said the attack should be considered a violation of the ceasefire agreement reached in July, but the government in Damascus has not made such a declaration yet. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said “clashes erupted” between Syrian security forces and “local factions” around the town of Tal Hadid in western Sweida province. (Read More)
