Fighting between Bedouin tribes and local fighters in the predominantly Druze city of Suwayda in southern Syria has killed more than 30 people and injured 100 others, the Syrian Ministry of Interior says.
The ministry late on Sunday expressed deep concern and sorrow over the “bloody developments” that took place between “local armed groups and tribes” in eastern Suwayda’s Maqwas neighbourhood.
“In this context, the Ministry of Interior confirms that units of its forces, in coordination with the Ministry of Defence, will intervene directly in the region to resolve the conflict, stop clashes, impose security, prosecute those responsible for the events, and refer them to the competent judiciary,” it said in a statement.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor on Monday raised its death toll to 99 killed since fighting erupted Sunday, including 60 Druze, four of them civilians, 18 Bedouin fighters, 14 security personnel and seven unidentified people in military uniforms.
“There is no solution to this except imposing security [measures] and activating the role of institutions to ensure civil peace and the return of life to its normal state in all its details,” Interior Minister Anas Khattab said in a post on X.
Syrian forces on Monday reportedly took control of the Druze village of Al-Mazraa, where Bedouin fighters were also located.
A commander, Ezzeddine al-Shamayer, said the forces “are heading toward Suwayda” city.
Israel, which has attacked Syria in the past months under the pretext of protecting the Druze, said it hit several tanks heading towards Suwayda.
The strikes were “a clear warning to the Syrian regime – we will not allow harm to be done to the Druze in Syria”, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz posted on X.
The Druze religious sect is a minority group that originated as a 10th-century offshoot of a branch of Shia Islam. In Syria, they primarily reside in the southern Suwayda province and some suburbs of Damascus, mainly in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to the south.
Sunday’s clashes were the first outbreak of deadly violence in the area since fighting between members of the Druze community and security forces killed dozens of people in April and May.
The violence was triggered by a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday on the highway linking Damascus to Suwayda, witnesses told the Reuters news agency.
“This cycle of violence has exploded in a terrifying way, and if it doesn’t end, we are heading towards a bloodbath,” said Rayan Marouf, a Druze researcher based in Suwayda who runs the Suwayda24 website.
Armed Bedouin tribesmen also launched attacks on Druze villages on the western and northern outskirts of the city, residents said.
A medical source told Reuters that at least 15 bodies had been taken to the morgue at Suwayda’s state hospital. Some of the dozens who were injured were transported to Deraa city for medical care.
Suwayda Governor Mustapha al-Bakour called on people to “exercise self-restraint and respond to national calls for reform”.
Syria’s Druze population numbers about 700,000, with Suwayda home to the sect’s largest community. Bedouin and Druze factions have a longstanding feud in Suwayda, with violence occasionally erupting.
Since the overthrow of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, concerns have been raised over the rights and safety of minorities under the new authorities, who have also struggled to re-establish security more broadly.
Clashes between troops and Druze fighters in April and May killed dozens of people, with local leaders and religious figures signing agreements to contain the escalation and better integrate Druze fighters into the new government.
It was the deadliest sectarian flare-up in years in Syria, where a 14-year civil war ended last December with al-Assad fleeing to Russia after rebel forces overthrew his government.
The Druze developed their own militias during the civil war. Since al-Assad’s fall, different Druze factions have been at odds over whether to integrate with the new government and armed forces.