Calm appeared to have returned to southern Syria’s Sweida province on Sunday after a week of sectarian violence between Druze fighters and rival groups allied with new authorities left hundreds dead.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that since around midnight, “Sweida has been experiencing a cautious calm”, adding that government security forces had blocked roads leading to the province to prevent tribal fighters from heading there.
AFP correspondents on the outskirts of Sweida city reported hearing no fighting, adding humanitarian convoys were preparing to enter the Druze-majority town.
Sectarian clashes that erupted last Sunday between the Druze and Bedouin rivals drew in the government led by Hayaat Tahrir Al-Sham Leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa, ‘Israel’ and armed tribes from other parts of Syria.
Syrian News Channel has published images showing the deployment of Internal Security Forces in Walga town in western #Sweida, as part of the steps to implement the ceasefire agreement and monitor the de-escalation.#Syria https://t.co/j7HuUWkgKI
— 501,Ali Hwishan (@AhhAhhdd) July 20, 2025
Death Toll Topped 1,000
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has said the death toll from violence in the country’s south had topped 1,000.
The war monitor said those killed since last Sunday included 336 Druze fighters and 298 civilians from the religious minority group, 194 of whom were “summarily executed by defense and interior ministry personnel.”
Among those killed also included 342 government security personnel and 21 Bedouin, three of them civilians “summarily executed by Druze fighters”. Another 15 government forces were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to the SOHR.
Witnesses, Druze factions and the Observatory have accused government forces of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses, including summary executions, when they entered Sweida earlier in the week.
Interim President Al-Sharaa on Saturday announced a ceasefire in Sweida and renewed his pledge to protect Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities.
The interior ministry said overnight that Sweida city was “evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city’s neighborhoods were halted”.
A spokesman for Syria’s tribal and clan council told Al-Jazeera late Saturday that fighters had left the city “in response to the call of the presidency and the terms of the agreement”.
A medic inside Sweida told AFP on Sunday by telephone that “the situation is totally calm… We aren’t hearing clashes.”
“No medical or relief assistance has entered until now,” the medic said, requesting anonymity due to the security situation.
Inside the city, where around 150,000 people live, residents have been holed up in their homes without electricity and water, and food supplies have also been scarce.
US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said Sunday that the country stood at a “critical juncture”, adding that “peace and dialogue must prevail — and prevail now”.
Source: Agencies
