Government forces announce ceasefire after clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes kill dozens in the southern Syrian city.
The Syrian Ministry of Defence has announced a ceasefire in the Druze-majority city of Suwayda, saying an agreement has been reached with the city’s “notables and dignitaries” after days of deadly clashes with Bedouin tribes.
“To all units operating within the city of Suwayda, we declare a complete ceasefire,” Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra posted on X on Tuesday, shortly after the ministry deployed government forces to halt the violence that killed dozens since Friday.
A curfew was also imposed on the city following the violence, which spread across the Suwayda governorate, killing at least 99 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.
The dead include 60 Druze, among them four civilians, 18 Bedouin fighters, 14 security personnel and seven unidentified people in military uniforms, the monitor said. The Defence Ministry reported 18 deaths among the armed forces.
Bedouin and Druze factions have a longstanding feud in Suwayda, with violence occasionally erupting.
Meanwhile, Israel launched air attacks on Suwayda on Tuesday after Syrian government forces entered the Druze city. Israel had pledged to protect Syria’s Druze minority, which it sees as potential allies.
The Druze spiritual leadership had earlier resisted any deployment of Syrian troops in the southern city, but then urged Druze fighters to lay down their arms and allow government forces in.
On Tuesday afternoon, however, Druze political leadership changed course, with Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, who has been strongly opposed to the new leadership in Damascus, saying Syrian troops had breached any arrangements by continuing to fire on residents.
Earlier on Tuesday, Syrian military columns were seen advancing towards Suwayda, with heavy artillery deployed nearby. The Defence Ministry later said they had entered the city, and urged people to “stay home and report any movements of outlaw groups”.
It was the first time government forces were deployed to Suwayda since the overthrow of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December and the formation of an interim government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
The Druze religious sect is a minority group that originated as a 10th-century offshoot of a branch of Shia Islam. In Syria, the 700,000-strong community primarily resides in the southern Suwayda province and some suburbs of Damascus, mainly in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to the south.
media’s Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from Deir Az Azor in Syria, said fighting in the city had been ongoing since Friday.
“It escalated and more than two dozen people were killed. The government sent its reinforcements and then there was an ambush of the government troops as well, where at least 18 soldiers we believe were either killed or wounded,” he said.
Bin Javaid said the situation has been exacerbated by Israeli attacks on government positions in Syria.
