Tensions high as new violence spirals in Syria’s Suwayda despite ceasefire

State media says equipped groups violated the truce agreed successful the predominantly Druze region.

Druze equipped groups person attacked unit from Syria’s interior information forces successful the restive country of Suwayda, sidesplitting astatine slightest 1 authorities worker and wounding others, arsenic good arsenic shelling respective villages successful the confederate province, according to state-run Ekhbariya TV.

Ekhbariya’s study connected Sunday quoted a information root arsenic saying the equipped groups had violated the ceasefire agreed successful the predominantly Druze region, wherever sectarian bloodshed killed hundreds of radical past month.

In effect to the renewed violence, the Syrian authorities said successful a connection that “the media and sectarian mobilisation campaigns led by the rebel gangs successful the metropolis person not ceased implicit the past period”.

It added: “As these gangs failed to thwart the efforts of the Syrian authorities and its responsibilities towards our radical successful Suwayda, they resorted to violating the ceasefire statement by launching treacherous attacks against interior information forces connected respective fronts and shelling immoderate villages with rockets and mortar shells, resulting successful the martyrdom and wounded of a fig of information personnel.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 4 deaths successful the latest unit successful Suwayda, noting 3 were authorities soldiers and 1 was a section fighter.

Violence successful Suwayda erupted connected July 13 betwixt Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze factions.

Government forces were sent successful to quell the fighting, but the bloodshed worsened, and Israel carried retired strikes connected Syrian troops, and besides bombed the bosom of the superior Damascus, nether the pretext of protecting the Druze.

The Druze are a number assemblage successful the portion with followers successful Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Suwayda state is predominantly Druze, but is besides location to Bedouin tribes, and the communities person had longstanding tensions implicit onshore and different resources.

A United States-brokered truce betwixt Israel and Syria was announced successful tandem with Syria President Ahmed al-Sharaa declaring a ceasefire successful Suwayda aft erstwhile failed attempts. The warring had raged successful Suwayda metropolis and surrounding towns for astir a week. Syria said it would analyse the clashes, mounting up a committee to bash so.

The Suwayda bloodshed was different stroke to al-Sharaa’s fledgling government, aft a question of sectarian unit successful March that killed hundreds of Alawite citizens successful the coastal region.

Hundreds of Bedouin families were displaced by the warring successful Suwayda and relocated to adjacent Deraa.

Israel attacks Syria again

Separately, the Israeli subject said connected Sunday that it conducted a raid connected targets successful confederate Syria connected Saturday.

The service said it seized weapons and questioned respective suspects it said were progressive successful weapons trafficking successful the area.

Meanwhile, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said connected Sunday that 5 of its members had been killed during an onslaught by ISIL (ISIS) connected a checkpoint successful eastbound Syria’s Deir Az Zor connected July 31.

The SDF was the main unit allied with the United States successful Syria during warring that defeated ISIL successful 2019 aft the radical declared a caliphate crossed swaths of Syria and Iraq.

ISIL has been trying to signifier a comeback successful the Middle East, the West and Asia. Deir Az Zor metropolis was captured by ISIL successful 2014, but the Syrian service retook it successful 2017.

On Saturday, Syria’s Defence Ministry said an onslaught carried retired by the SDF successful the countryside of the bluish metropolis of Manbij injured 4 service unit and 3 civilians.

The ministry described the onslaught arsenic “irresponsible and for chartless reasons”, according to Syria’s authorities quality bureau SANA.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies