Syrian power announced on Saturday a ceasefire in inter-community fights in Soueida and the start of the deployment of its forces in this Druze majority in the southern country, where sporadic violence is still reported.
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Inter -community violence between tribal fighters and Sunni Bedouins on the one hand and Druzes on the other have left more than 700 dead since July 13 according to an NGO and pushed tens of thousands of people to flight.
In a statement, the presidency announced an “immediate ceasefire” and called “all the parties to respect it entirely” after the violence involving the Druze, an esoteric minority from a branch of Islam.
The power of Ahmad al-Chareh also announced the dismissal of his forces in the province of Soueida after a cease-fire agreement concluded, under the aegis of the United States, with Israel, hitherto opposed to the presence of Syrian government forces in this region.
AFP
Sporadic clashes took place in Soueida province, located near the Syrian Golan Plateau occupied and annexed by Israel on Saturday morning, according to witnesses.
“The internal security forces began to deploy in the province of Soueida (…) in order to protect civilians and put an end to chaos,” said spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Noureddine Al-Baba in a statement on Telegram.
On Friday, the American emissary for Syria Tom Barrack announced that Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Syrian interim president Ahmad al-Chareh “accepted a cease-fire”.
“We call the Druze, the Bedouins and the Sunnis to lay down their arms, and, together, with the other minorities, to build a new and united Syrian identity, in peace and prosperity with his neighbors,” wrote Mr. Barrack on X.
718 dead according to an NGO
Since July 13, clashes between Druzes and local Bedouin tribes groups, for tense relations for years, in the province of Soueida have left 718 dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).
The Soueida government hospital, the only one in the eponymous city that still works, has welcomed “more than 400 bodies since Monday”, including “women, children and the elderly,” the doctor Omar Obeid told AFP.
AFP
“It is no longer a hospital, it is a common pit,” AFP Rouba, a member of the hospital staff who does not want to give his family, told to an AFP correspondent. The city is deprived of water and electricity and the communications are cut.
These violence further weakens the power of Mr. Chareh who, at the head of a coalition of Islamist rebel groups, had overthrown President Bashar al-Assad in December, in a country bruised by almost 14 years of civil war.
The Syrian power, saying that he wanted to restore order, had already deployed his forces on Tuesday in Soueida, hitherto controlled by Druze fighters. The OSDH, witnesses and Druzes groups, however, accused these forces of having fought alongside Bedouins and committed abuses.
The authorities were forced to withdraw their forces on Thursday, after threats and bombings of Israel from targets of Syrian power. Mr. Chareh then said his desire to avoid an “open war” with Israel.
“People lack everything”
A first cease-fire had been concluded between the Syrian parties, but the presidency accused Druze fighters on Thursday of having violated him.
Friday, fighters of Sunni Arab tribes flocked from Syrian regions to Soueida to help the Bedouins, according to AFP correspondents on site. Fighting then broke out at the entrance to the city with the Druzes groups positioned inside.
AFP
A tribal chief, Anas al-Enad, told AFP having come with his men from Hama (center) “in response to calls for the help of the Bedouins”.
The AFP correspondent saw houses, shops and cars burned in Walgha, north of the city of Soueida, now under the control of tribal forces and Bedouins.
Nearly 80,000 people have been moved due to violence, according to the International Organization for Migration (OIM).
“People lack everything. Hospitals find it increasingly difficult to treat the wounded and patients, “said Stephan Sakalian, head of the international Red Cross delegation in Syria.
Present mainly in Soueida, the Druze community in Syria had some 700,000 people before the civil war. This minority is also located in Lebanon and Israel.