At least 17 people were killed and dozens wounded in Syria’s Sweida province in clashes between armed residents and factions linked to state security services, activists said and local media reported today.
The predominantly Druze province has remained largely unscathed by the bloody conflict that has engulfed the rest of the country since 2011, but there have been occasional demonstrations against worsening economic conditions. The Syrian government exercises less military and administrative control over the region than in other government-held areas.
Residents have grown increasingly uncomfortable with government-backed militants carrying out arbitrary detentions, roadblocks and kidnappings for ransom, said Ryan Maarouf, an activist and head of the local Suwayda24 network.
Over the weekend, the arrest of one resident resulted in others setting up makeshift roadblocks and arresting members of government-backed factions and besieging their bases, Suwayda24 reported.
“This insurgency broke out very suddenly and there were attacks on the bases of these armed organizations, which are reinforced with heavy weapons.” Maarouf told Reuters late yesterday, Wednesday.
A resident of Atil, one of the villages rocked by the fighting, said the fighting was so fierce that he was unable to leave his home to get emergency medical supplies for his sister.
“It was 15 hours of total war. Cars, solar panels, water tanks — everything was destroyed,” said the resident, who preferred to give only his first name, Sandy.
The clashes left 17 people dead, according to Suwayda’s health directorate, which was cited by both Suwayda24 and the pro-government newspaper Al Watan today.
Most of the dead were members of state-linked factions and silent funerals were held for them today, Maarouf told Reuters.
The rest, from a movement linked to Druze religious figures known as “Men of Dignity”, were buried in two ceremonies that drew about 2,000 people each, he added.
The Syrian government has not commented on the violence, but according to Al Watan, the fighting has died down and negotiations have begun for a settlement.
The man who was kidnapped over the weekend was eventually released, according to Suwayda24.
Earlier this year, dozens of people gathered in the provincial capital to demand an end to gas subsidy cuts, in a rare anti-regime demonstration.
Source: Capital
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