Fighting between military groups and clans in Syria leaves more than 80 dead: Army intervention announced

Clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes in southern Syria have left 89 dead, according to a new report released Monday by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

According to this NGO, which has a vast network of informants in the country, 50 Druze were killed, including 46 combatants, two women, and two children. Eighteen Bedouin, 14 members of the security forces, and seven unidentified individuals also perished. The previous death toll was around 50.

The Syrian Interior Ministry warned in a statement that this is still a "preliminary" count and explained that the clashes "erupted between local military groups and clans in the Al Maquas neighborhood of the city of Al Suwayda, amidst tensions that have been building up over the past few years."

The incidents began on Sunday, after groups in the area were recently involved in a series of mutual kidnappings following a robbery on the road between Damascus and Al-Suida, inhabited by the Druze religious minority, according to local media.

"This dangerous escalation comes amid the absence of relevant official institutions, which has exacerbated the chaos, the deterioration of security, and the inability of the local community to contain the crisis despite repeated calls for calm," the Interior Ministry warned in its statement.

Central authorities attempted to negotiate the deployment of their security forces to the area after a wave of violent clashes between them and Druze groups in areas populated by the community on the outskirts of Damascus and Al-Suida in late April.

However, Druze minority leaders insisted that local security remain in the hands of local forces, despite the fact that the incidents two months ago left more than 100 dead, according to estimates by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Interior Ministry announced this Monday that its units, in coordination with the Ministry of Defense, will begin an intervention in the area to resolve the conflict and halt the violence, as well as to ensure security and bring those responsible for the incidents to justice.

In this regard, the head of the department, Anas Khattab, also considered in his account of X that "the absence of state institutions, particularly military and security institutions , is one of the main causes of the persistent tensions in Al Sueida and its surroundings."

Therefore, he sees the presence of central authorities in the administrative demarcation as the "only" way to achieve a peaceful environment and a return to "normalcy."

Meanwhile, at least six members of the Syrian government forces were killed while intervening to contain clashes between local groups.

"Armed bandits attacked soldiers while they were carrying out their mission in the Al Thala area, in the rural areas of Al Sueida," a Defense Ministry source told Syrian state television, Al Ijbariya, confirming the deaths of six of them during the incidents.

In addition, 15 others were injured and an unknown number were taken hostage, the channel reported.

Central authorities announced Monday they were deploying forces to Al Suwaida, where the bulk of the country's Druze minority is concentrated, to stem the clashes that began the day before between local groups and clans, which have left at least 30 dead, according to official figures.

Following the overthrow of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the country's new government is seeking to extend its control to all of Syria and integrate other armed groups into state forces, something both Druze and Kurdish Syrians have expressed reluctance to do.

*With information from AFP and EFE