More than 30 people have been killed and about 100 injured in sectarian fighting between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes in the southern Syrian city of Sweida, according to the the interior ministry on Monday.
The gun-battles erupted after a spate of kidnappings, including Friday’s abduction of a Druze merchant on the Damascus–Sweida highway, witnesses said. Fighting focused on the Maqwas district, home to Bedouin tribes, which armed Druze groups surrounded and seized by nightfall.
“This cycle of violence has exploded in a terrifying way and if it doesn’t end we are heading toward a bloodbath,” warned Rayan Marouf, a Druze researcher who runs the Suwayda24 monitoring site.
Bedouin fighters also stormed Druze villages on the western and northern fringes of the city. The interior ministry said security forces would “intervene directly” and urged local factions to cooperate.
A doctor at Sweida state hospital said at least 15 bodies had been taken to the morgue and some 50 wounded transferred to Sweida and neighbouring Deraa. The ministry’s initial tally put the overall toll at more than 30 dead and 100 hurt.
It is the first sectarian battle inside Sweida since Syria’s 14-year civil war ended last December, when Islamist-led rebels ousted President Bashar al-Assad, who fled to Russia. Similar Druze-Sunni clashes flared in Jaramana, near Damascus, in April.
Minority fears have grown after the killing of hundreds of Alawites in March in apparent retaliation for earlier attacks by Assad loyalists.
A Kyiv-Warsaw train was struck near the Polish border, Ukraine's state railway firm said on Sunday. No passengers were injured. Ukrai...
Maritime trackers received new reports of an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the ...
Indonesian rescuers are searching for 130 people after a passenger ship carrying 243 people sank in the Java Sea following bad weather, while 113 p...
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the weekend BRICS summit, amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict, joining a host of foreign dignitaries.
Maritime trackers received new reports of an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), adding to concerns about energy supplies after Saudi Arabia shut down a vital oil pipeline on Saturday.
A Kyiv-Warsaw train was struck near the Polish border, Ukraine's state railway firm said on Sunday. No passengers were injured. Ukrainian Railways said that the country's railways were facing systematic attacks for a second day and warned of widespread delays.
Saudi Arabia has temporarily shut down its 1,200-kilometre East-West oil pipeline after it was hit by a drone attack, with Riyadh and Baghdad saying the strike originated from Iraq.
Dubai’s property market has spent years climbing. Now, for the first time since 2021, prices are moving in the opposite direction.
A Kyiv-Warsaw train was struck near the Polish border, Ukraine's state railway firm said on Sunday. No passengers were injured. Ukrainian Railways said that the country's railways were facing systematic attacks for a second day and warned of widespread delays.
Indonesian rescuers are searching for 130 people after a passenger ship carrying 243 people sank in the Java Sea following bad weather, while 113 people have been evacuated and six have died, the country’s search and rescue agency said on Sunday.
China will lead the creation of an open source platform among BRICS members to promote cooperation on large language models, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday.
Swedes vote in an election on Sunday (13 September) that could see the far-right enter government for the first time if the country's right-wing parties can form a majority.
Philippine rescuers recovered 41 more charred remains from a ferry fire on Saturday (12 September), taking the death toll to 76, while 13 people remained unaccounted for as forensic teams worked to identify the victims.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment