The Recent Violence in al-Suwayda' Province and the Joint Statement of Compromise

What explains the recent violence in the primarily Druze province of al-Suwayda’ in southern Syria?

Initially, as explained to me by Ziyad Abu Tafesh (spokesman/media activist for a local Druze faction called Liwa al-Jabal) the violence began as clashes within the province between Druze and Bedouin gunmen (not intra-Druze violence, as was claimed by some) after a spat of tit-for-tat kidnappings, after a Druze individual called Fadlallah Duwara was stopped on the Damascus-Suwayda’ route and was robbed of his money and mobile phone and subjected to beating and insults.

In addition, unidentified armed groups (likely consisting of Bedouins) fired projectiles at Druze localities on the peripheries of the province- something that had been ongoing for some time before this incident and was seen as a justification for continued mobilisation of local armed Druze factions, despite an earlier understanding reached with the central government to activate the local police and law enforcement apparatus in al-Suwayda’ province.

Subsequently, the central government decided that attempts to reach a negotiated settlement with the province were futile without the use of force as a means of pressure, and thus began sending military and security forces from outside the province into al-Suwayda’. This contravened a common demand of local Druze factions that external security and military forces should not enter the province- a position that was reinforced by the perception that these forces were effectively coming to aid the Bedouins against the Druze.