Residents reported calm in the Syrian city of Sweida on Sunday after the Islamist-led government declared that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and the United States stepped up calls for an end to fighting.
A member of the Syrian security forces, Reuters/Karam al-Masri
Residents reported calm in the Syrian city of Sweida on Sunday after the Islamist-led government declared that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and the United States stepped up calls for an end to fighting.
There was no sound of gunfire on Sunday morning, according to a resident speaking from the city outskirts, while a Druze source in the region said there was calm in most areas.
Kenan Azzam, a dentist, described the situation on Sunday morning as "a tense calm" but told Reuters residents were still struggling with a lack of water and electricity.
"The hospitals are a disaster and out of service, and there are still so many dead and wounded," he said by phone.
The fighting began a week ago with clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters. Damascus then sent troops to quell the fighting, but they were accused of carrying out widespread violations against the Druze and were hit by Israeli strikes before withdrawing under a truce agreed on Wednesday.
The Syrian presidency had announced a new ceasefire early on Saturday but it quickly collapsed into renewed fighting, underlining the challenge interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa faces in asserting authority over the fractured nation.
Reporting by Khalil Ashawi in southern Syria, Maya Gebeily in Beirut, Suleiman al-Khalidi in Damascus, Jaidaa Taha in Cairo
Sectarian 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 the Islamist-led government struggled to implement a ceasefire.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar delivered a scathing rebuke on Saturday of Syrian President Ahmed al-Shaara, accusing him of openly supporting jihadist militias responsible for the massacre of 700 Druze civilians and fostering a climate of impunity and ethnic persecution.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan urged the United States to help bring an immediate end to the Syrian conflict during a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to a source in the Turkish foreign ministry on Saturday.
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