SWEIDA: Calm returned to southern Syria’s Sweida province on Sunday after a week of sectarian violence between Druze fighters and rival groups that killed more than 1,100 people.
A ceasefire appeared to be holding after earlier agreements failed to end fighting between longtime rivals the Druze and the Bedouin that spiralled to draw in government forces, the Israeli military and armed tribes from other parts of Syria.
Local and International media have reported that no clashes were heard on Sunday morning, with government forces deployed in some locations in the province to enforce the truce.
The first humanitarian aid convoy entered the city on Sunday, Red Crescent official Omar Al-Malki said, adding that it would be followed by others.
He said the convoy came “in coordination with the government bodies and the local authorities in Sweida,” which are controlled by the Druze.
The Syrian government meanwhile said a Druze group blocked its own convoy from entering the city.
Hanadi Obeid, a 39-year-old doctor, told local media person that “the city hasn’t seen calm like this in a week.”
The Syrian interior ministry said overnight that Sweida city was “evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city’s neighborhoods were halted.”
Interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa had on Saturday announced a ceasefire in Sweida and renewed a pledge to protect Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities in the face of the latest sectarian violence since the rebels overthrew longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December.
A spokesman for Syria’s tribal and clan council was quoted as saying that fighters had left the city “in response to the call of the presidency and the terms of the agreement.”
“The situation is totally calm… We aren’t hearing clashes”, said a medical professional while talking to media on Sweida.
Residents of Sweida city, who number at about 150,000, have been holed up in their homes without electricity and water, and food supplies have also been scarce.
The local media revealed that the morgue at Sweida’s main hospital was full and bodies were lying on the ground outside the building.
The United Nations migration agency said more than 128,000 people in Sweida province have been displaced by the violence.
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