Clashes in Syria’s Sweida Wound 10 Government Security Personnel

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Clashes between Syrian government security forces and local armed groups in the Druze-majority province of Sweida wounded 10 government personnel, Syrian state media reported Tuesday, as renewed violence underscored the fragile security situation in the southern province.

The clashes took place Monday after two civilians were killed in fighting west of Sweida city, according to two local security sources.

Syrian state television, citing the Internal Security Command in Sweida province, said the number of wounded security personnel had risen to 10 after what it described as attacks by “outlaw groups” against government positions in the Tal Hadid area and along the Walgha axis.

State media had initially reported that four security personnel were wounded while confronting attacks in the western countryside of Sweida.

The latest violence highlights the continuing difficulty faced by Syria’s new authorities in extending their control over Sweida, where local armed groups retain significant influence.

Sweida city and parts of the surrounding province remain largely outside the effective control of Damascus. The area is home predominantly to members of Syria’s Druze community and has become a major point of friction between local factions and the authorities that emerged following the overthrow of longtime President Bashar al-Assad in 2024.

Among the most prominent armed factions in the province is the so-called National Guard, which is affiliated with Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri.

The National Guard accused government forces on Monday night of shelling and indiscriminate gunfire in areas near Sweida.

The group said government forces had fired mortar shells and 23mm machine guns “with the aim of harming civilians,” claiming that a child was wounded. It said its fighters were responding to the sources of fire using what it called appropriate means.

Government forces and Druze armed groups had been exchanging fire since Saturday night, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

A Druze security source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity, that a shell fired Sunday from a government-controlled area struck the outskirts of Sweida city, hitting a tractor and killing two people aboard — the driver and a woman accompanying him.

The renewed clashes come amid heightened tensions that have persisted since last year, when fighting between Druze fighters and government-aligned forces triggered some of the worst sectarian and communal violence in Syria since Assad’s fall.

The violence has complicated Damascus’ efforts to consolidate authority across Syria after more than a decade of civil war and fragmentation.

Sweida, along with other areas where local armed groups retain substantial autonomy, remains a particularly sensitive test of the new authorities’ ability to establish nationwide security control while managing Syria’s complex sectarian and political landscape.

For the Druze community, concerns over security, local autonomy and the conduct of government forces have remained central to the dispute with Damascus. For the Syrian authorities, restoring state control over territory and armed formations remains a key objective.

The latest exchange of fire therefore risks further deepening tensions in a province that has remained one of the most difficult areas for Syria’s new government to bring under its control.