From New Lines Magazine
Sweida, in southern Syria, a province once spared the worst of the country’s civil war, has become one of its most dangerous flash points. What was once an enclave of fragile calm is now a battlefield where sectarian fears, local militias, insurgent networks and outside powers collide. The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024 and the rise of a new government in Damascus shattered old arrangements and opened a volatile new chapter.
Before Assad’s fall, Sweida operated in a semiautonomous way by closing itself off from the wider war. Druze community leaders kept up ties with the regime, allowing Damascus to project control through formal appointments, naming heads of security branches and local administrators while, in reality, Druze forces maintained order and kept their men out of Assad’s army.
That system collapsed under the new government. Damascus is now pushing for greater central authority while Druze factions want to preserve the autonomy they fought to maintain. This struggle for control has ignited a dangerous standoff that risks turning Sweida into a new front line.
The latest round of violence began with the abduction of a Druze merchant on the Damascus-Sweida road on July 11. In retaliation, Druze fighters kidnapped Bedouin men, and both sides launched tit-for-tat raids. What began as local reprisals spiraled into heavy battles across the province, drawing in government forces and regional players.
The Bedouins’ call for support was swiftly answered by several tribes, including those from neighboring Daraa and Damascus’ Ghouta region. On July 17, they launched a new offensive, seizing five villages in Sweida’s western countryside and advancing to the city’s outskirts after pushing back Druze forces.
“Suddenly, I saw a group of armed men accompanying a Bedouin neighbor,” recalled Zeid, a 50-year-old engineer, who believed they were members of General Security from Damascus. “They went to the Hinawi family’s house under the pretext of having coffee. But when the door opened, they stormed in and killed everyone inside. They repeated this several times.”
The family, he said, had ties to Damascus, making the killings feel even more indiscriminate. “The bodies of my neighbors were scattered in the streets. For two days, we had no food, no electricity, no water; we were completely cut off.”
The Druze, who make up the overwhelming majority in Sweida and pride themselves on their religious identity and local autonomy, quickly organized self-defense militias. These groups claim they are protecting their communities against Bedouin tribes and government forces. Damascus, which initially entered under the pretext of restoring order, soon turned its guns on Druze neighborhoods after coming under attack from local fighters.
Santiago Montag is an Argentine journalist and photographer. Hussam Hammoud is a Syrian investigative journalist from Raqqa who has reported on war crimes and jihadist networks since 2011.
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