Syria’s government says it has cleared Bedouin fighters from the predominantly Druze city of Suwayda and declared a halt to the deadly clashes there, hours after deploying security forces to the restive southern region.The announcement on Saturday came after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa ordered a new ceasefire between Bedouin and Druze groups, following a separate United States-brokered deal to avert further Israeli military intervention in the clashes.
Shortly before the government’s claim, there were reports of machinegun fire in the city of Suwayda as well as mortar shelling in nearby villages.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Nour al-Din Baba, a spokesman for the Syrian Ministry of Interior, said in a statement carried by the official Sana news agency that the fighting ended “following intensive efforts” to implement the ceasefire agreement and the deployment of government forces in the northern and western areas of Suwayda province.
He said the city of Suwayda, located in the province’s west, has now been “cleared of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city’s neighbourhoods have been brought to a halt”.
Israeli intervention
The fighting broke out last week when the abduction of a Druze truck driver on a public highway set off a series of revenge attacks and resulted in tribal fighters from all over the country streaming into Suwayda in support of the Bedouin community there.
The clashes drew in Syrian government troops, too.
Israel intervened in the conflict on Wednesday, carrying out heavy air attacks on Suwayda and …