Syrian government security forces gather on the outskirts of Sweida province where clashes erupted between Druze militias and Sunni Bedouin clans, southern Syria, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Malek Khattab)

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Dozens of people have been killed in fighting between local militias and clans in Syria ’s Sweida province, where government security forces sent to restore order Monday also clashed with local armed groups.

The Interior Ministry said more than 30 people died and nearly 100 others have been injured. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor reported at least 50 dead, including two children and six members of the security forces.

Clashes initially broke out between armed groups from the Druze religious minority and Sunni Bedouin clans, the observatory said, with some members of the government security forces “actively participating” in support of the Bedouins.

Interior Ministry spokesperson Noureddine al-Baba told the state-run state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV that government forces entered Sweida in the early morning to restore order.

“Some clashes occurred with outlawed armed groups, but our forces are doing their best to prevent any civilian casualties,” he said.

The observatory said the clashes started after a series of kidnappings between both groups, which began when members of a Bedouin tribe in the area set up a checkpoint where they attacked and robbed a young Druze man.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the observatory, said the conflict started with the kidnapping and robbery of a Druze vegetable seller, leading to tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings.

Syria's defense and interior ministries were deploying personnel to the area to attempt to restore order.

The Interior Ministry described the situation as 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.”

Factions from the Druze minority have been suspicious of the new authorities in Damascus after former President Bashar Assad fled the country during a rebel offensive led by Sunni Islamist insurgent groups in December. Earlier this year, Druze groups in Sweida clashed with security forces from the new government.

The Druze religious sect is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. In Syria, they largely live in the southern Sweida province and some suburbs of Damascus, mainly in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to the south.

The Druze developed their own militias during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war. Since Assad’s fall, different Druze factions have been at odds over whether to integrate with the new government and armed forces.

News from © The Associated Press, 2025