Hundreds of Bedouin civilians evacuated from Syria’s Sweida under US-backed ceasefire

Hundreds of Arab Bedouin civilians were evacuated from the predominantly Druze city of Sweida under a US-backed ceasefire, following several days of violent clashes between Bedouin tribesmen and Druze militants.

Witnesses report that the fighting has claimed dozens of lives, with widespread destruction across the southern Syrian city, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The evacuation comes as part of a temporary measure intended to de-escalate tensions and restore order. According to Sheikh Mudar Hamad al-Asaad, head of Syria’s Supreme Council of Tribes and Clans, the displaced families are not fleeing permanently but are undertaking a “temporary displacement” to allow the Syrian army and internal security forces to reassert control.

“The streets are blocked and the houses are uninhabitable,” Asaad said. “The departure is only until the army and internal security forces can restore order across the city and its outlying villages.”

The Syrian Interior Ministry had mediated the agreement, which permits “all civilians who wish to leave Sweida because of the current conditions” to do so, with assurances that their return will be facilitated once safety is guaranteed. Buses began transporting families out of the city at dawn on July 21.

The evacuation has sparked a flurry of claims on social media, with some accusing the Druze majority of conducting sectarian-driven expulsions of Arab populations. Asaad strongly rejected such accusations.

“Electronic trolls are stirring up sedition,” he said. “The aim is to prolong the dispute between the government, the militias of Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri and the Arab tribes, and to push the region towards instability.”

He further accused various actors—“remnants of the Assad regime, PKK elements, arms and narcotics traffickers – and Hijri himself” — of exploiting the disorder to establish a Druze-dominated autonomous enclave.

Asaad emphasized that most of those evacuated were women and children from families that had previously fled conflict in other parts of Syria during the civil war. He denied that the evacuation signaled a tribal surrender.

“Without that order, the tribes would be in complete control of Sweida today,” he asserted. He added that Druze elders and political leaders had requested tribal assistance in countering what he described as Hijri’s “destructive project.”

Historically, Sweida has been home to a diverse population. “Arabs have lived in Sweida since before Islam,” Asaad stated, noting that Arab Bedouins comprise about 30 percent of the province's population, alongside Syriac Christians (a little over 10 percent) and Druze, who settled in the region in the 11th century.

According to Asaad, the recent conflict has mobilized over 150,000 young tribal fighters. He stressed that the clans support the Syrian army’s reentry into Sweida and advocate for the disarmament of all non-state actors.

“The clans seek to spread peace among the Syrian people, settle disputes and bury sectarian strife,” he said. “We stand with all components of Syrian society and have no ambition to replace the state, only to defend the gains of the Syrian revolution and support national stability."

By Vafa Guliyeva