Syrian Kurds march for Sweida truce
Crowds of Syrian Kurds, including women and children, marched through the streets of Qamishli in a show of solidarity with the people of Sweida, where deadly clashes have erupted in recent days.
Overnight, Syria's Islamist-led government's troops withdrew from the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, where scores of people have been killed in days of conflict pitting Druze fighters against government troops and Bedouin tribes.
But in a worrying development, a military commander for the Bedouin said their fighters had launched a new offensive in Sweida province against Druze fighters and that the truce only applied to government forces.
The Bedouins, a collection of Sunni Muslim farmers who have long-standing frictions with the Druze, were seeking to free detained colleagues. A round of fighting between the Bedouins and Druze earlier this week prompted the government to send troops to Sweida to quell the fighting, but the violence then grew until a ceasefire was declared.
The violence has underlined the challenges that Sharaa faces in stabilizing Syria and exerting centralized rule, despite his warming ties with the United States and his administration's evolving security contacts with Israel.
Syrian Bedouin families from Sweida fled toward Deraa escaping what they described as brutal attacks by Druze fighters.
Meanwhile, armed Bedouin fighters rallied in Deraa and mobilized on motorcycles and in vehicles toward Sweida, as they launched a new offensive in Syria's Sweida province against Druze fighters, a Bedouin military commander said.
Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa accused Israel of trying to fracture Syria and promised to protect its Druze minority after U.S. intervention to help achieve a truce in fighting between government forces and Druze fighters.
Violence in Syria escalated sharply as Israel launched airstrikes in Damascus, while also hitting government forces in the south, demanding they withdraw and saying Israel aimed to protect Syrian Druze - part of a small but influential minority that also has followers in Lebanon and Israel.
