Syria evacuates Bedouin civilians from Sweida as ceasefire holds

Syrian authorities on Monday began evacuating Bedouin families from the southern city of Sweida, where Druze militiamen and Bedouin fighters have clashed for over a week.

The government coordinated with local officials to evacuate 1,500 people, according to Syria’s state news agency.

Buses filled with Bedouin families were accompanied by Syrian Arab Red Crescent vehicles and ambulances. Some families left on trucks with their belongings.

The UN International Organization for Migration said some 128,571 people were displaced in the hostilities between militias of the Druze religious minority and the Sunni Muslim clans.

Fighting killed more than 1,000 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and threatened to unravel Syria’s already fragile postwar transition..

It also led to a series of targeted sectarian assaults against the Druze community, followed by revenge attacks against the Bedouins.

The decision to evacuate came after a ceasefire took hold on Sunday, as Bedouin fighters withdrew from the city.

A United States-backed agreement between Syria and Israel also allowed Syrian government forces to deploy on Sweida’s outskirts.

Israel had launched dozens of airstrikes in the Druze-majority Sweida province last week, targeting government forces who had effectively sided with the Bedouins.

An aid convoy of some 32 Red Crescent vehicles entered the city of Sweida on Sunday, though a government delegation with another aid convoy was turned away.