The Syrian government on Monday started evacuating Bedouin families trapped inside the city of Sweida, where Druze and Bedouin fighters have clashed for over a week.
The clashes between militias of the Druze religious minority and the Sunni Muslim clans killed hundreds and threatened to unravel Syria’s already fragile postwar transition.
The clashes also led to a series of targeted sectarian attacks against the Druze community, followed by revenge attacks against the Bedouins. The UN International Organization for Migration said some 128,571 people were displaced in the hostilities that started with a series of tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks a week ago.
Israel also launched dozens of airstrikes in the Druze-majority Sweida province, targeting government forces who had effectively sided with the Bedouins.
US envoy Tom Barrack said on Monday the Syrian government needed to be held accountable. “They also need to be given the responsibility that they're there to do,” he said, speaking on a visit to Beirut.
Syrian state media said early Monday that the government had coordinated with some officials in Sweida to bring in buses to evacuate some 1,500 Bedouins in the city.
Ahmad al-Dalati, Chief of Interior Security in Swedia, told SANA that the initiative will also allow displaced civilians from Sweida to return, as the fighting has largely stopped and efforts for a complete ceasefire are ongoing.
“We have imposed a security cordon in the vicinity of Sweida to keep it secure and to stop the fighting there,” al-Dalati told the Syrian state-run news agency. “This will preserve the path that will lead to reconciliation and stability in the province.”
Buses filled with Bedouin families were accompanied by Syrian Arab Red Crescent vehicles and ambulances. Some families left on trucks with their belongings.
Syrian authorities did not give further details about the evacuation and how it ties into the broader agreement, following failed talks for a hostage swap deal Saturday.
The Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from Sweida city Sunday, and alongside other tribesman from other parts of the country stood on the outskirts while security forces cordoned off the area. An aid convoy of some 32 Red Crescent vehicles entered the city, though a government delegation with another aid convoy was turned away.
After talks for a hostage swap fell through late Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and activist groups in Sweida reported hearing what they said were Israeli airstrikes and helicopters over villages where some skirmishes took place between the Bedouins and Druze militias.
The Israeli military said it was “not aware” of any overnight strikes in Syria.
َAgencies
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