SWEIDA: Clashes escalated in Syria’s predominantly Druze region of Sweida on Saturday, with machinegun fire and mortar shelling ringing out after days of bloodshed as al Sharaa-led government struggled to implement a ceasefire.

Smoke rose from burning houses in Syria’s south, gunfire was heard from inside the city of Sweida and shells landed in nearby villages, while an Arab tribal fighter vowed to “slaughter” residents as deadly clashes with the Druze persisted.

Just hours earlier, Syria’s interim President Ahmed al Sharaa had announced an immediate ceasefire, but Bedouin and tribal fighters who are allied with the Syrian authorities pushed on in the west of the Druze-majority city.

“Go forward, tribes!” said fighter Abu Jassem, addressing fellow combatants in the area, where the streets were largely deserted.

Many homes torched; shells landed in villages; monitoring body says 940 people killed amid violence so far

“We will slaughter them in their homes,” he said, referring to the Druze.

The tribal fighters have converged on Sweida from other parts of Syria to support the Bedouin who have been clashing with Druze fighters since July 13.

The violence has killed 940 people, according to a monitor.

An eyewitness on Saturday saw dozens of torched homes and vehicles and armed men setting fire to shops after looting them.

Some fighters, their faces covered, opened fire in the streets with automatic weapons while others moved around on vehicles and motorbikes.

Nothing left

In Sweida city, where around 150,000 people live, residents have been holed up in their homes without electricity and water.

Food supplies are scarce despite repeated appeals for humanitarian assistance, and communications have largely been cut off.

Near the city’s main hospital, a photographer said bloated bodies were being taken for burial in a nearby pit as the morgue was overflowing.

A doctor said the facility had received more than 400 bodies.

Security forces were deploying in the province on Saturday with the stated aim of protecting civilians and ending the chaos.

Near a village north of Sweida, an eyewitness saw government forces deploying at a checkpoint and seeking in vain to prevent armed tribal fighters from advancing.

Interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al Baba told journalists in the province’s north that security forces were deploying “to protect public and private property and guarantee the security of civilians”.

Syrian government forces were to “supervise the withdrawal of the tribes that were in battle with outlaw groups”, he added, referring to Druze fighters.

Some tribal fighters withdrew from the city on Saturday afternoon, and also reported armed men dragging bodies from a street.

According to the United Nations, the fighting has displaced 87,000 people.

In recent days, brutal videos have circulated on social media, some appearing to show the execution of people in civilian clothing and the abuse of elderly clerics, as dozens of people published shocking accounts of the deaths of loved ones.

One resident of the city, who fled days earlier, said: “We have nothing left. Most of the people we know — our relatives and friends — are dead.

“Sweida has been destroyed, and we are trying to keep our families away until this madness ends.”

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2025