Syria’s Bedouins ‘withdrawn’ from Druze-majority city after fighting

Mazraa: Syria’s armed Bedouin clans on Sunday announced that they had withdrawn from the Druze-majority city of Sweida following over a week of clashes and a US-brokered ceasefire, as humanitarian aid convoys started to enter the battered southern city.

The clashes between militias of the Druze religious minority and the Sunni Muslim clans killed hundreds

and threatened to unravel Syria’s already fragile postwar transition. Israel also launched dozens of airstrikes in the Druze-majority Sweida province, targeting government forces who had effectively sided with the Bedouins.

The clashes also led to a series of targeted sectarian attacks against the Druze community, followed by revenge attacks against the Bedouins.

A series of tit-for-tat kidnappings sparked the clashes in various towns and villages in the province, which later spread to the city. Government forces were redeployed to halt renewed fighting that erupted Thursday, before withdrawing again.

Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was more sympathetic to the Bedouins, had tried to appeal to the Druze community while remaining critical of the militias.

He later urged the Bedouins to leave the city, saying that they “cannot replace the role of the state in handling the country’s affairs and restoring security.”

“We thank the Bedouins for their heroic stances but demand they fully commit to the ceasefire and comply with the state’s orders,” he said in an address broadcast Saturday.

Dozens of armed Bedouin fighters alongside other clans from around the country who came to support them remained on the outskirts of the city and were cordoned off by government security forces and military police.

They blame the clashes on the Druze factions loyal to spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri and accuse them of harming Bedouin families.

“We will not leave until he turns himself in alongside those with him who tried to stir sedition. And only then will we go

home.” Khaled al-Mohammad, who came to the southern province alongside other tribesman from the eastern Deir al-Zour province, told The Associated Press.

The Bedouins’ withdrawal brought a cautious calm to the area, with humanitarian convoys on their way.

The Syrian Red Crescent said Sunday it sent 32 trucks loaded with food, medicine, water, fuel and other aid, after the fighting left the province with power cuts

and shortages.