The death toll from the ongoing clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters in southern Syria's Sweida region has risen to 37, a war monitor said Monday, July 13. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes have resulted in 37 deaths, with 27 of them Druze, including two children, and 10 Bedouins, along with around 50 wounded.
The clashes are the first outbreak of deadly violence in the area since fighting between members of the Druze community and the security forces killed dozens of people in April and May.
Sweida Governor Mustapha al-Bakur called on his constituents to "exercise self-restraint and respond to national calls for reform."
Several Syrian Druze spiritual leaders have also called for calm and asked Damascus to intervene. Syrian state-run media outlet SANA said the security forces had deployed on the administrative borders between the Daraa and Sweida provinces in light of the situation. Due to the violence, the education ministry announced the postponement of Sweida's official secondary school exams due on Monday to a future date.
Syria's pre-civil war Druze population numbers around 700,000, with Sweida province home to the sect's largest community. Bedouin and Druze factions have a longstanding feud in Sweida, and violence occasionally erupts between the two.
Since the overthrow of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, concerns have been raised over the rights and safety of minorities under the new Islamist authorities, who have also struggled to re-establish security more broadly.
Clashes between the new security forces and Druze fighters in April and May killed dozens of people, with local leaders and religious figures signing agreements to contain the escalation and better integrate Druze fighters into the new government.