Clashes erupt between Druze groups, government forces in Syria’s Suwayda

SUWAYDA, Syria (North Press) – Armed clashes broke out on Wednesday between local Druze groups and forces of the Syrian government in the town of Walgha in the western countryside of Suwayda Governorate, southern Syria. The fighting involved the use of heavy machine guns.

Local sources told North Press that a group of residents from the western countryside violated the existing truce in an attempt to retake their villages, sparking an exchange of fire with government forces stationed in the area.

The clashes reportedly resulted in the killing of a young man, Rabi’ Murshid, who was said to have been targeted by a drone strike, according to the same sources. 

In response, the National Guard – a group of armed factions – in Suwayda issued a statement on its official Facebook page denying that it had launched any offensive operations. The group called on its fighters to remain at their positions and to fully adhere to the ceasefire agreement.

In mid-July, a local dispute rapidly escalated into wide-scale intercommunal violence across Suwayda Governorate. The fighting involved Druze local militias, Sunni Bedouin tribal fighters and, at times, Syrian government forces and affiliated security units.

The period saw mass killings, looting, forced displacement, and waves of abduction and enforced disappearance that continue to reverberate. International bodies and rights groups have documented grave abuses and called for independent investigations.

On Sep. 16, Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced a six-step roadmap to address the crisis in Suwayda, with U.S. and Jordanian support. The plan calls for holding aggressors accountable, ensuring the flow of humanitarian aid, compensating victims, rehabilitating villages, restoring basic services, clarifying the fate of the missing, and launching a reconciliation process with the participation of Suwayda residents.

The roadmap included holding aggressors accountable, ensuring the flow of humanitarian aid, compensating affected individuals, rehabilitating villages, restoring basic services, clarifying the fate of the missing, and launching an internal reconciliation process with the participation of Suwayda residents.

However, the Suwayda residents rejected the roadmap describing it as the alignment of the United States and Jordan with the Syrian government, and calling for the right to self-determination and the release of abducted residents.

Reporting by Haroun al-Arbid

Editing by Jwan Shekaki