BEIRUT – Overnight violence into Sunday has once again shaken Syria at two critical flashpoints, putting further pressure on a tenuous ceasefire and raising questions about the transitional government’s capacity to govern the entire country.
In the northern region, government-associated fighters engaged with Kurdish-led forces who dominate much of that area, while in the southern Sweida province, confrontations erupted between government forces and armed Druze groups.
This surge in violence occurs as Syria’s provisional authorities work to uphold a delicate ceasefire in Sweida, following skirmishes with Druze factions the previous month, and aim to enforce an agreement with the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to integrate large areas of northeastern Syria back into national governance.
The interim government led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa has faced challenges in solidifying control since he spearheaded a sudden rebellion that removed former President Bashar Assad in December, concluding the Assad family’s lengthy autocratic reign. Suspicions linger among political rivals and ethnic and religious minorities regarding Sharaa’s de facto Islamist governance and his alliances with fighters linked to militant groups.
According to state television, clashes between government forces and militias from the Druze religious minority erupted in the southern province of Sweida on Saturday, following Druze factions’ assault on Syrian security forces, resulting in at least one security member’s death. The state-sponsored Alikhbaria channel, referencing an unnamed security official, reported that the ceasefire has been breached, though the Defense Ministry has yet to release an official comment.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor based in Britain, reported that in addition to the security forces’ casualty, one Druze member was also killed and at least nine others were injured during the altercations in the western part of Sweida province. The Observatory noted that the fighting occurred at the strategic Tal al-Hadeed heights, which overlook the adjacent Daraa province.
Difficult conditions in Sweida
State media says that aid convoys continue to enter Sweida city as a part of a tense truce after over a week of violent clashes in July between Druze militias and armed Bedouin clans backed by government forces. However, humanitarian conditions remain dire, and residents of Sweida have called for the road into the city to be fully opened, saying the aid that has come in is not enough.
The clashes that displaced tens of thousands of people came after months of tensions between Damascus and Sweida. The fighting led to a series of targeted sectarian attacks against the Druze minority, who are now skeptical of peaceful coexistence. Druze militias retaliated against Bedouin communities who largely lived in western areas of Sweida province, displacing many to neighboring Daraa.
Elsewhere, in the northern Aleppo province, government-affiliated fighters clashed with the SDF. The Defense Ministry said three civilians and four soldiers were wounded after the SDF launched a barrage of rockets near the city of Manbij “in an irresponsible way and for unknown reasons.”
SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami on the other hand said the group was responding to shelling by “undisciplined factions” within government forces on Deir Haffar, an eastern city in the same province.
The eastern part of Aleppo province straddles areas controlled by the government and by the SDF. Though the two are slowly trying to implement a ceasefire and agreement that would integrate the areas under Damascus, tensions remain.
“The Ministry of Defense’s attempts to distort facts and mislead public opinion do not contribute to security or stability,” Shami said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Israeli forces carry out raids bordering annexed Golan Heights
In Quneitra province, in the south, the Israeli military announced it conducted another ground operation in the area that borders the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. It said its troops questioned several suspects they accuse of involvement in weapons trafficking in the village of Hader, and raided four areas where they found weapons being trafficked.
Since Assad’s ouster, Israel has conducted numerous strikes and military operations in southern Syria, saying its forces are taking out militant groups that they suspect could harm Israelis and residents in the Golan Heights.
Damascus has been critical of Israel’s military activity, and the two sides have been trying to reach a security arrangement through U.S.-mediated talks. Syria has repeatedly said it does not intend to take military action against Israel.
Those talks intensified after Israel backed the Druze in Sweida during the earlier clashes. Israel struck military personnel near the southern city and most notably launched an airstrike targeting the Defense Ministry headquarters in the heart of Damascus.
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