Attacks on Syrian security forces sent to quell sectarian clashes leave 16 dead

Sixteen members of Syria’s security forces have been killed in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, the defense ministry said, after they deployed to quell deadly sectarian clashes that local media reported had resumed on Monday.

Sunday’s fighting between Druze militiamen and Bedouin tribal fighters was the first time that sectarian violence erupted inside the city of Sweida itself, following months of tensions in the broader province.

The defense ministry said “outlawed groups,” which it did not identify further, had attacked a number of its units at dawn.

It said its forces responded to the attack and had pursued those groups that refused to halt hostilities and continued to target security forces.

The fighting on Sunday left 30 people dead and prompted Syria’s security forces to deploy units to the city to restore calm and guarantee safe passage for civilians looking to leave, the defense ministry said in an earlier statement.

But intense clashes broke out again on Monday, local news outlet Sweida24 reported.

Another security source said that Syrian troops would aim to exert state control over the whole province to prevent any more violence, but that this could take several days.

It marked the latest episode of sectarian bloodshed in Syria, where fears among minority groups have surged since opposition forces toppled President Bashar al-Assad in December, installing their own government and security forces.

Sunni Muslim Arab opposition groups which fought al-Assad during the war agreed in December to dissolve into the defense ministry but efforts to integrate armed factions from minority groups – including Druze and Kurds – have largely stalled.

In southern Syria, efforts have been further complicated by Israel’s stated policy that it would not allow Syria’s new army to deploy south of Damascus and that Sweida and neighboring provinces should make up a demilitarized zone.

The Israeli military said on Monday that it attacked several tanks in a town in Sweida. “The presence of these (tanks) in southern Syria may pose a threat to the State of Israel. The (Israeli army) will not allow the establishment of a military threat in southern Syria and will operate against it,” the army said in a statement.

Interior Minister Anas Khattab said in a written statement carried on state media that the “absence of state institutions, especially military and security institutions, is a major cause of the ongoing tensions in Sweida and its countryside.”

Sunday’s violence erupted after a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday on the highway linking Damascus to Sweida, witnesses said.