US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack has urged restraint in the predominantly Druze Sweida province in southern Syria, after a prominent local figure was forced to leave the area following tensions with supporters of a Druze leader aligned with Israel.
The city of Sweida and parts of the surrounding province are controlled by local armed factions, making it one of the last areas outside the control of Syria’s new authorities, who are seeking to extend their influence across the country.
Among these factions are the National Guard forces affiliated with Druze leader Hikmat al-Hijri, one of the strongest opponents of Syria’s new authorities. Al-Hijri recently declared that his community is an “integral part of the State of Israel.”
Syrian state television reported Friday that “outlaw groups” in Sweida forced Atef Hanidi, a prominent local figure, to leave the city after he was “abducted from his home the previous night” over a statement he issued condemning Al-Hijri’s remarks.
The report said Hanidi later arrived in Damascus.
Barrack said, “Wherever governance is absent, gangs fill the vacuum,” adding that “a very small number of people driven by toxic motives are turning on themselves.”
He said people such as Hanidi were being arbitrarily detained and expelled from their homes.
Barrack said his team was in contact with Hanidi and “others caught up in this campaign of sectarian violence,” urging restraint in actions in a statement that did not mention Al-Hijri by name.
He said a “roadmap for peace” in Sweida was signed last year, describing it as “a path to reintegrating the province with dignity into Syria, while ensuring its Druze community enjoys full rights and the full obligations of citizenship.”
Barrack said this was “the only path that leads anywhere other than a return to trouble.”
Al-Hijri’s National Guard forces said Friday in a statement that their fighters had moved “to contain the situation and prevent any confrontation that threatens civil peace” after residents gathered around Hanidi’s home.
The statement added that Hanidi “went to Damascus at his own request.”
Tensions have recently escalated in Sweida province.
Earlier this week, state media reported that clashes with local armed groups in the province left 10 government security personnel injured. The unrest followed the deaths of two civilians in similar clashes west of Sweida city.
Tensions have persisted in the province since clashes in July last year between Druze residents and pro-government forces triggered the worst sectarian violence since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in 2024.
Israel, which also has a Druze population, intervened militarily by launching airstrikes, saying it was acting to protect the minority. Washington, Israel’s ally, meanwhile moved closer to Syria’s new authorities.
Source: AFP
