According to the Syrian government, the violence in Suwayda has ended. The army is said to have driven the Sunni Bedouins out of the city. In the province, there have been heavy battles between Bedouins and Druze in the past week.
In Suwayda, a Druze city in southern Syria, heavy fighting took place last week. A ceasefire was announced for the area on Wednesday, but it was not respected. The violence between the Bedouins and Druze continued to flare up.
On Saturday, the government sent security forces to prevent more fighters from joining the conflict. Reuters reporters reported gunshots and explosive impacts in surrounding villages.
Nour al-Din Baba, a spokesman for the Syrian Ministry of the Interior, said in a statement on Saturday that the fighting had ended “after intensive efforts”. He refers to the deployment of government troops in the Suwayda province. The city of Suwayda, which lies in the west of the province, is said to have been “purged” of Bedouins.
Shortly before that statement, gunshots were still observed in the area, reports Al Jazeera, among others.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Damascus on Saturday evening to “hold accountable anyone who has committed atrocities, including those within its own ranks.”
Rubio also said in his statement that Syria should deploy security forces. According to him, this was necessary to prevent “ISIS and other violent jihadists from entering the area and carrying out massacres”.
Fighting claimed the lives of more than 900 people
In Suwayda, fighting flared up last week between Druze and Sunni Bedouins, nomads who live in the desert. The Syrian government army moved to the city to end the fighting. In practice, it turned out that it was fighting with the Bedouins against the Druze.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, about 940 people have been killed in those battles since last Sunday. The agency also reports that security forces executed civilians in the process.
Israel also intervened in the conflict by carrying out bombings on Syria. The country bombed, among other things, the military headquarters in Damascus. Israel said the attacks were intended to protect the Druze.
The Druze are a religious minority group in Syria, but form the majority in Suwayda. Druze also live in Israel. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously said it does not want a Syrian troop buildup near the border with Israel.