By Suleiman Al-Khalidi
AMMAN (Reuters) -More than fifteen people were killed and dozens injured in Syria’s predominantly Druze city of Sweida in the latest bout of sectarian clashes between Druze gunmen and Bedouin Sunni tribes, witnesses said on Sunday.
The violence erupted after a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday on the highway linking Damascus to Sweida, witnesses said.
Unlike similar clashes last April, which pitted Sunni fighters against armed Druze residents of Jaramana, southeast of Damascus, and later spread to another district near the capital—this is the first time the fighting has erupted inside the city of Sweida itself, the provincial capital of the mostly Druze province.
“This is the first time sectarian fighting has erupted within the city of Sweida. This cycle of violence has exploded in a terrifyng way and if it doesn’t end we are heading toward to a bloodbath,” said Rayan Marouf, a Druze researcher based in Sweida who runs the Suwayda24 website.
The clashes, involving Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze militias, were centered in Maqwas neighborhood east of Sweida which is inhabited by Bedouin tribes, which was encircled by armed Druze groups and later seized.
Armed Bedouin tribesmen also launched attacks on Druze villages on the western and north outskirts of the city, residents said.
A medical source told Reuters that at least 15 bodies had been taken to the morgue at Sweida’s state hospital. Around 50 people were injured, with some transported to Deraa city for medical care.
The violence marked the latest episode of sectarian bloodshed in Syria, where fears among minority groups have surged since Islamist-led rebels toppled President Bashar al-Assad in December, installing their own government and security forces.
Those concerns intensified following the killing of hundreds of Alawites in March, in apparent retaliation for an earlier attack carried out by Assad loyalists.
It was the deadliest sectarian flare-up in years in Syria, where a 14-year civil war ended last December with Assad fleeing to Russia after his government was overthrown by rebel forces.
(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; editing by Diane Craft)
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