30 people have been killed and 100 injured in ongoing clashes between the minority Druze and Sunni Bedouins living in As-Suwayda, Syria. The conflict between the two groups began on July 11th when a group of Druze kidnapped people on a highway between Damascus, the capital of Syria, and As-Suwayda. A Druze businessman was also kidnapped in this manner. This is the first time such bloodshed has occurred in As-Suwayda, where a large Druze population resides. The clashes are taking place in the Maqwas neighborhood of the city, which is inhabited by Sunni Bedouin clans. Armed Druze have surrounded the neighborhood and taken control of the area.
Similar confrontations between Druze and Bedouins also occurred this past April. At that time, the clashes were between Sunni fighters and armed Druze in Jaramana, located southeast of Damascus. The unrest later spread to other areas as well. Rayan Maarouf, a Druze researcher living in As-Suwayda, stated that retaliatory attacks between different Syrian communities have increased unusually. He warned that if this is not brought to an end, major bloodshed could occur.
The Syrian Interior Ministry said that government forces will intervene in the ongoing unrest in As-Suwayda to end the bloodshed. The ministry has called on As-Suwayda’s leaders to cooperate with the military forces. Following the sudden end of former President Bashar al-Assad’s rule last December, an armed militant group took control of the country’s governance. This has created fear among minority communities. These concerns increased after government fighters killed many Alawites, the community to which former President Assad belongs, this past March. That bloodshed was the largest between Syrian communities in recent years.
