Casualties, injuries due to armed attack in Syria’s Suwayda
SUWAYDA, Syria (North Press) – Armed gunmen affiliated with the Fifth Corps (an alliance of five former opposition-aligned Syrian rebel groups that was formed during the Syrian Civil War and now fights alongside government forces) attacked the town of Qeryia in the north Suwayda countryside on Tuesday, resulting in a death and about six injuries.
The governorate of Suwayda, located in Syria’s south, is home to the country’s Druze minority, an ethnoreligious group which practices a monotheistic Abrahamic religion and speaks the Arabic language. Historically, the region has been mostly pro-government, even from the start of the country’s nine-year-crisis and civil war.
Clashes took place between residents from the town in addition to the National Defense Forces (a pro-government militia organized by Syrian government during the Syrian Civil War as a part-time volunteer reserve component of the Syrian Armed Forces) and the armed Eighth Brigade headed by Ahmad Awda, which is affiliated with the Fifth Corps, local sources told North Press.
The clashes took place due to consecutive attacks by members of the Eighth Brigade against civilians from the town, according to local residents.
Clashes escalated after Ahmad Awda’s gunmen advanced from the west and fired mortar shells at the center of the town, amid reinforcements arriving to the town’s outskirts.
Meanwhile, Fahed (Puma) forces which are affiliated with the Men of Dignity Brigade (emerged in 2014 with supporters of Wahid al-Balaous, a dissident from the Druze community who initially called for the removal of the Syrian government) sent reinforcements to the town.
Suwayda has been witnessing security chaos as a result of different armed groups aiming to head towards south Suwayda.
Attacks against farmers have repeated west the town, Methqal Sheqair, a resident from the town who participated the clashes, said.
Members of the Fifth Corps fired on the farmers from behind berms, according to locals.
Additionally, the Fifth Corps has built berms since March, due to the clashes that took between the residents of the town and the Eighth Brigade which killed 15 people, including members from the National Defense.