Druze armed groups have launched attacks on Syrian internal security forces in the restive area of Suwayda, killing at least one government soldier and wounding others, while also shelling several villages in the southern province. According to state-run Ekhbariya TV, the armed groups violated the ceasefire agreed upon in the predominantly Druze region, where sectarian bloodshed had claimed hundreds of lives the previous month.
The Syrian government responded to the renewed violence, stating that “the media and sectarian mobilisation campaigns led by the rebel gangs in the city have not ceased over the past period.” They added that these gangs, having failed to thwart the efforts of the Syrian state, resorted to violating the ceasefire agreement by launching treacherous attacks against internal security forces on several fronts and shelling some villages with rockets and mortar shells, resulting in the martyrdom and injury of several security personnel.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported four deaths in the latest violence in Suwayda, including three government soldiers and one local fighter. This violence erupted on July 13 between Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze factions, prompting government forces to intervene. However, the bloodshed worsened, and Israel conducted strikes on Syrian troops, even bombing the heart of the capital Damascus, under the pretext of protecting the Druze.
The Druze are a minority community in the region, with followers in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. Suwayda province is predominantly Druze but is also home to Bedouin tribes, and the communities have had longstanding tensions over land and other resources. A United States-brokered truce between Israel and Syria was announced alongside Syria President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s declaration of a ceasefire in Suwayda after previous failed attempts. The fighting had raged in Suwayda city and surrounding towns for nearly a week.
The Suwayda bloodshed dealt another blow to al-Sharaa’s fledgling government, following a wave of sectarian violence in March that killed hundreds of Alawite citizens in the coastal region. Hundreds of Bedouin families were displaced by the fighting in Suwayda and relocated to nearby Deraa.
In a separate development, the Israeli military conducted a raid on targets in southern Syria on Saturday, seizing weapons and questioning several suspects involved in weapons trafficking. Meanwhile, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reported that five of its members were killed during an attack by ISIL (ISIS) on a checkpoint in eastern Syria’s Deir Az Zor on July 31. The SDF was the main force allied with the United States in Syria during the fighting that defeated ISIL in 2019.
In another incident, Syria’s Defence Ministry accused the SDF of carrying out an “irresponsible and for unknown reasons” attack in the countryside of the northern city of Manbij, injuring four army personnel and three civilians. The complex web of conflicts and alliances in Syria continues to fuel violence and instability in the region.