Suweida fighting escalates with deaths and abductions

The toll of armed clashes and mutual shelling in the Al-Maqous neighborhood, east of Suweida city, has risen to 6 deaths, including a child, and more than 20 injuries, following intense clashes in the neighborhood between armed groups from the city and tribal fighters. 

Local and media sources reported that tribal fighters from the Al-Maqous town kidnapped 15 civilians from Suweida on Sunday morning in retaliation for the Suweida Military Council detaining 8 civilians from Bedouin tribes in the city’s countryside the previous day.

The sources added that the roots of this tension trace back to an incident that occurred on the night of Friday into Saturday, when unknown gunmen robbed a vegetable delivery vehicle and briefly held its driver near the Kharbat al-Shiyab area in the Damascus countryside, before releasing him after stripping him of his belongings.

In response, local groups close to the driver set up temporary checkpoints in Suweida and detained 8 civilians from the provinces of Hasakah and Suweida, demanding the return of the vehicle in exchange for their release.

 Concurrently with these developments, the Damascus-Suweida road witnessed heightened security tensions, with incidents of random assaults and kidnappings, prompting internal security forces to close the road at the Musmiyah checkpoint and several other checkpoints. In a related context, Sheikh Hammoud al-Hanawi, the spiritual leader of the Druze Unitarian Muslims, issued an urgent statement calling on all parties to halt the escalation and resort to reason.

Sheikh al-Hanawi stated, “The reactions taking place are unworthy of people of honor and only serve the enemies of our unity,” adding that “justice is the foundation of peace, and the spilling of innocent blood is forbidden to all.”

a.k

ANHA