DAMASCUS (Reuters) -Six members of Syria’s security forces have been killed in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, a security source told Reuters, after they deployed to halt 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 fighting 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 defence ministry said in a statement.
But intense clashes broke out again on Monday, local news outlet Sweida24 reported. At least six Syrian troops were subsequently killed, a defence ministry source told Reuters.
It marked the latest episode of sectarian bloodshed in Syria, where fears among minority groups have surged since Islamist-led rebels toppled President Bashar al-Assad in December, installing their own government and security forces.
Sunni Muslim Arab rebel groups which fought Assad during the war agreed in December to dissolve into the defence 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 neighbouring provinces should make up a demilitarized zone.
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.
(Reporting by Khalil Ashawi; Additional reporting by Maya Gebeily in Beirut, Nayera Abdallah and Tala Ramadan in Dubai; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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