Syria announces ceasefire after latest outbreak of deadly sectarian violence

Syrias defence minister announced a ceasefire shortly after government forces entered a key city in southern Sweida province on Tuesday a day after sectarian clashes killed dozens there Neighbouring Israel again launched strikes on Syrian military forces saying it was protecting the Druze minority The latest escalation under Syrias new leaders began with titfortat kidnappings and attacks between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed factions in the southern province a centre of the Druze community Syrian government forces sent to restore order on Monday also clashed with Druze armed groupsA ceasefire announcementOn Tuesday Syrian Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said an agreement was struck with the citys notables and dignitaries and that government forces would respond only to the sources of fire and deal with any targeting by outlaw groups However scattered clashes continued after his announcement as did allegations that security forces had committed violations against civiliansSyrias Interior Ministry said Monday that more than 30 people had been killed but has not updated the figures since The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights a UKbased war monitor said Tuesday that 166 people had been killed since Sunday including five women and two children Among them were 21 people killed in field executions by government forces including 12 men in a rest house in the city of Sweida it said It did not say how many of the dead were civilians and also cited reports of members of the security forces looting and setting homes on fireSyrian interim President Ahmad alSharaa said in a statement that he had tasked authorities with taking immediate legal action against anyone proven to have committed a transgression or abuse regardless of their rank or position Associated Press journalists in Sweida province saw forces at a government checkpoint searching cars and confiscating suspected stolen goods from both civilians and soldiersIsraels involvement draws pushbackIsraeli airstrikes targeted government forces convoys heading into the provincial capital of Sweida and in other areas of southern Syria Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strikes sought to prevent the Syrian regime from harming the Druze religious minority and to ensure disarmament in the area adjacent to our borders with Syria In Israel the Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the armed forces Meanwhile Israeli Cabinet member and Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli called on X for alSharaa to be eliminated without delayA soldiers storyManhal Yasser AlGor of the Interior Ministry forces was being treated for shrapnel wounds at a local hospital after an Israeli strike hit his convoy We were entering Sweida to secure the civilians and prevent looting I was on an armored personnel carrier when the Israeli drone hit us he said adding that there were many casualties The Syrian Foreign Ministry said Israeli strikes had killed several innocent civilians as well as soldiers and called them a reprehensible example of ongoing aggression and external interference in Syrias internal matters It said the Syrian state is committed to protecting the Druze who form an integral part of the national identity and united Syrian social fabricSuspicion over Syrias new governmentIsrael has taken an aggressive stance toward Syrias new leaders since alSharaas Sunni Islamist insurgents ousted former President Bashar Assad in December saying it doesnt want militants near its borders Israeli forces have seized a UNpatrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory along the border with the Golan Heights and launched hundreds of airstrikes on military sites in SyriaEarlier Tuesday religious leaders of the Druze community in Syria called for armed factions that have been clashing with government forces to surrender their weapons and cooperate with authorities One of the main Druze spiritual leaders later released a video statement retracting the call Sheikh Hikmat AlHijri who has been opposed to the government in Damascus said in the video that the initial Druze leaders statement had been issued after an agreement with the authorities in Damascus but that they broke the promise and continued the indiscriminate shelling of unarmed civiliansWe are being subjected to a total war of annihilation he claimed without offering evidence Some videos on social media showed armed fighters with Druze captives beating them and in some cases forcibly shaving mens moustachesSectarian and revenge attacksThe Druze religious sect began as a 10thcentury offshoot of Ismailism a branch of Shiite Islam More than half the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel including in the Golan Heights which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981 Since Assads fall clashes have broken out several times between forces loyal to the new Syrian government and Druze fightersThe latest fighting has raised fears of more sectarian violence In March an ambush on government forces by Assad loyalists in another part of Syria triggered days of sectarian and revenge attacksHundreds of civilians were killed most of them members of Assads minority Alawite sect A commission was formed to investigate the attacks but no findings have been made publicThe videos and reports of soldiers violations spurred outrage and protests by Druze communities in neighbouring Lebanon northern Israel and in the Israelannexed Golan Heights where the Israeli military said dozens of protesters had crossed the border into Syrian territory The violence drew international concern The US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack called the violence worrisome on all sides in a post on We are attempting to come to a peaceful inclusive outcome for Druze Bedouin tribes the Syrian government and Israeli forces he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed 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