Al-Suwayda Death Toll Reaches 638 as Clashes Continue
Bloody clashes in Syria’s al-Suwayda between Druze and Bedouin communities have left 638 dead since Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports, as violence and security escalations continue.
By Kamaran Aziz
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) — The death toll from a week of bloody clashes in Syria's southern al-Suwayda province has skyrocketed to 638, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Friday, as armed tribesmen from the Syrian desert were seen gathering to join the escalating fighting.
According to the UK-based war monitor, the security situation in al-Suwayda city continues to deteriorate, with armed tribesmen from the Syrian Badiyah gathering near the village of "Barak" in preparation to enter the battles.
Violent clashes broke out again on Friday morning between local Druze factions and armed members of Bedouin tribes in the vicinity of "Walgha" village, west of the city. SOHR reported this followed actions by tribal groups who burned civilian property belonging to the Druze community in the villages of "al-Mazra'a" and "Walgha."
In a related development, SOHR sources reported that a United Nations convoy attempting to reach al-Suwayda was blocked by residents in the cities of "al-Harah" and "Nawa" and is currently stopped in rural Daraa.
The rights group provided a detailed breakdown of the 638 fatalities recorded since the violence began on Sunday, July 13, which it said includes deaths from clashes, field executions, and Israeli shelling:
219 residents of al-Suwayda province, including 73 civilians (of whom were 4 children and 4 women).
285 members of the Ministry of Defense and General Security, including 18 from Bedouin tribes.
112 people field-executed by gunfire from members of the Ministries of Defense and Interior, including 13 women, 3 children, and one elderly man.
15 members of the Ministries of Defense and Interior killed by Israeli raids.
3 members of Bedouin tribes field-executed by Druze gunmen, including a woman and a child.
3 individuals killed by an Israeli airstrike on the Ministry of Defense building, including a woman.
1 media person killed during the clashes.
Al-Suwayda is a province in southern Syria and the primary center for the country's Druze minority, an esoteric, monotheistic ethnoreligious group. Throughout the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011, the Druze community largely adopted a position of armed neutrality, resisting attempts by the Damascus government to enforce military conscription and forming local self-defense militias.
As a result, the province has been relatively autonomous and was largely spared the widespread destruction seen in other parts of Syria. However, it has experienced periodic security incidents, anti-government protests driven by economic hardship, and a fragile relationship with the central government. Clashes between the local Druze population and neighboring Bedouin tribes have occurred intermittently over local disputes, but the current scale of violence represents a major and deadly escalation.
