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A leader of Syria’s Druze religious minority has accused the government of violating a ceasefire agreement aimed at halting deadly fighting between local militias and factions in the country’s southern Sweida province.
The clashes began over the weekend with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between members of local Sunni Bedouins and Druze armed factions in Sweida, a hub of the Druze community. Dozens of people have died and thousands have been displaced.
Government security forces that were deployed to the city of Sweida — the provincial capital — on Monday to restore order also clashed with Druze armed groups.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said on Tuesday that at least 100 people had died in the fighting, including two children and 16 members of the security forces.
In the early hours of Tuesday, the Druze spiritual leadership called for armed factions that have been clashing with government forces to surrender their weapons and cooperate with authorities as they entered the city.
The initial statement called for armed factions in Sweida to “cooperate with the forces of the Ministry of Interior, not to resist their entry, and to hand over their weapons”.
The commander of Internal Security in Sweida Governorate, Ahmad al-Dalati, welcomed the statement and called for “all religious authorities and social activists to adopt a unified national stance”.
However, just hours later, influential Druze leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri — who has been opposed to the new government in Damascus — released a video message saying that the minority’s previous statement had been “imposed” on them by Damascus.
“They broke the promise and continued the indiscriminate shelling of unarmed civilians,” al-Hajri said in the video message.
“We are being subjected to a total war of annihilation,” he said, urging Druze “to confront this barbaric campaign with all means available.”
Videos shared on social media showed armed fighters with Druze captives, inciting hateful slogans and beating them. Euronews could not independently verify the videos.
Shortly after al-Hajri’s video message was published, Syrian Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra issued a statement announcing that a total ceasefire was in place, saying “we will respond only to the sources of fire and deal with any targeting by outlaw groups”.
Israeli intervention
Clashes have on several occasions broken out between forces loyal to the government and Druze fighters since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in early December in a lightning rebel offensive led by Sunni insurgent groups.
The latest round of fighting has raised fears of another spiral of violence, and also fuelled concerns about escalating Israeli intervention.
The Israeli army said in a statement on Tuesday that it had struck several military vehicles in the Sweida region.
An earlier joint statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said the country was committed to protecting the Druze in Syria and was taking action to “prevent the Syrian regime from harming them”.
Israel has previously intervened in Syria in defence of the Druze minority. In Israel, Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the armed forces.
The Druze — a group that split from Ismaili Shi’ism in the 10th century — are concentrated in Sweida and in certain Damascus suburbs such as Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya.
During Syria’s 14-year civil war, Druze factions formed their own militias and have remained largely self-governed.
While many Druze in Syria have said they do not want Israel to intervene on their behalf, factions from the minority have also been suspicious of the new authorities in Damascus.
Additional sources • AP