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Clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters in the southern Syrian city of Sweida left at least 18 people dead, a war monitor said Sunday, marking the first deadly outbreak in the region since sectarian fighting earlier this year.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said six Druze and two Bedouin were killed in the violence, which erupted in the Maqus neighborhood on the eastern edge of Sweida. The city is the heartland of Syria’s Druze community.
Local outlet Sweida 24, citing medical sources, gave a preliminary death toll of seven, including a child, and reported that at least 32 others were wounded in the clashes, which involved heavy gunfire and shelling. The fighting forced the closure of the main highway linking Damascus and Sweida.
A Syrian government official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on media engagement, told AFP that security forces were being deployed to de-escalate the situation.
Sweida Governor Mustapha al-Bakur issued a statement urging calm, calling on residents to “exercise self-restraint and respond to national calls for reform.”
Syria’s Druze population numbers around 700,000, with the largest concentration in and around Sweida. Tensions between Druze and Bedouin communities in the province have flared sporadically in recent years, often over land disputes, criminal activity, or competition for influence.
Violence erupted in April and May between Druze fighters and the country’s new Islamist-led security authorities following the December 2024 overthrow of longtime regime leader Bashar al-Assad. Those clashes left dozens dead and prompted religious leaders and local figures to broker agreements to ease tensions and integrate Druze factions into the transitional administration.
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