US envoy calls for restraint in Syria's Sweida province

US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack called Saturday for restraint in the southern province of Sweida, a Druze-majority region, following tensions between local figures.

The city of Sweida and other parts of the province remain under the control of Druze factions — among the last major areas outside the reach of Syria's new authorities, who are seeking to extend their control over the entire country. 

One prominent Druze group, the "National Guard," is led by influential Druze figure Hikmat al-Hijri, an outspoken critic of the new authorities who recently claimed his community was "an integral part of the State of Israel."

State television reported Friday that "outlaw groups" in Sweida had forced local figure Atef Hunaidi to flee "after being abducted from his home over a statement condemning al-Hijri's remarks," adding that he later arrived in Damascus. 

The National Guard, for its part, said its fighters had "intervened to contain the situation" after a crowd gathered outside Hunaidi's home, and that he had been taken "at his own request" to a nearby village before continuing on to Damascus.

"Where governance is absent, gangs fill the vacuum, and today a handful of bad actors are turning on their own community," Barrack warned in a statement, referring to Hunaidi as "arbitrarily detained and driven from his home." 

He called for "restraint in actions and genuine dialogue," without directly naming al-Hijri. Barrack stressed that a "roadmap for peace" signed last year for Sweida remained "the only path that does not inevitably lead to further suffering."

Tensions have been rising in Sweida in recent weeks. Ten Syrian security personnel were wounded Monday in clashes with armed groups, a day after two civilians were killed in similar violence. 

The province was also the scene of deadly clashes between Druze and Bedouin fighters in July 2025, which escalated after the intervention of government forces and, later, tribal fighters backing the Bedouins.