Clashes between the Sunni Bedouin tribes and local Druze militias in Syria’s Sweida province have killed at least 37 people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. The government has deployed forces to control the unrest and restore order.
According to the observatory, 27 of the total casualties are Druze with two of them being children. Ten people from the Bedouin tribes have also been killed. This is the first instance of deadly violence reported in the area since fighting between members of the Druze community and the security forces killed dozens of people in April and May.
The Observatory has said that the clashes began after a series of kidnappings carried out by both groups. The kidnappings were carried out after a Bedouin tribe in the area set up a checkpoint where they attacked and robbed a young Druze man.
The interior ministry in a statement called the situation a dangerous escalation that “comes in the absence of the relevant official institutions, which has led to an exacerbation of the state of chaos, the deterioration of the security situation, and the inability of the local community to contain the situation despite repeated calls for calm.”
Syria’s state-run news agency SANA reported that the security forces had deployed on the administrative borders between Daraa and Sweida provinces in light of the situation.
Citing the violence, the Education Ministry announced the postponement of Sweida's official secondary school exams due on Monday (July 14, 2025) to a future date.
The Sweida province holds the 7,00,000 members of the Druze community. In Syria, they largely live in the southern Sweida province and some suburbs of Damascus, mainly in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to the south.
