Renewed sectarian clashes in southern Syria's Druze-majority Sweida province killed at least four people on Sunday, a war monitor said, as Damascus accused local groups of violating last month's ceasefire.
The province witnessed deadly clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouins in July that drew the intervention of government forces and tribal fighters who came to support the Bedouins.
A ceasefire put an end to the week of bloodshed – which killed 1,400 people, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights – but the situation remained tense, flaring into violence again on Sunday.
Humanitarian needs escalate in Sweida as truce frays
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The Syrian government under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has been struggling to consolidate control since he led a shock insurgency that ousted former president Bashar al-Assad in December, ending the Assad family's decades-long autocratic rule. Political opponents and ethnic and religious minorities have been suspicious of Sharaa's de facto Islamist rule and cooperation with affiliated fighters that come from militant groups.
State state television said clashes between government forces and Druze militias rocked the southern province of Sweida on Saturday after Druze factions attacked Syrian security forces, killing at least one member. The state-run Alikhbaria channel cited an anonymous security official who said the ceasefire has been broken. The Defense Ministry has not issued any formal statement.
The Observatory said three Syrian security forces personnel were killed "as clashes erupted with local factions around Tal Hadid in the western Sweida countryside".
The Observatory also reported the death of a "local fighter".
Read moreExclusive: On the ground in Sweida, a Syrian city torn by Druze-Bedouin clashes
Tal Hadid, controlled by government security forces, is a "key control point" at a relatively high altitude, according to the monitor, allowing whoever holds it to overlook neighbouring areas.
Fighting also erupted around the city of Thaala, the Observatory said, "following bombardment of the area with shells and heavy weapons launched from areas under the control of government forces, while the sound of explosions and gunfire was heard in various parts of Sweida city".
Syrian state-run news agency SANA accused Druze groups loyal to influential spiritual leader Hikmat al-Hijri of breaching the ceasefire by attacking government troops in Tal Hadid, killing one security forces officer and injuring others.
In a statement, the Syrian interior ministry accused local groups of "launching treacherous attacks against internal security forces in several locations and striking some villages with rockets and mortars, resulting in the killing and wounding of a number of security personnel".
A security source told Syrian state television that government forces regained control of Tal Hadid and other areas that were attacked on Sunday.
'Force inhabitants to comply'
According to the monitor and Sweida locals, Damascus has been imposing a siege on the province, with the Observatory saying the government wants to "force inhabitants to comply".
On Friday, Sweida residents held protests across the province to demand the withdrawal of government forces and the opening of an aid corridor from neighbouring Jordan.
The road linking Sweida to Damascus has been cut off since July 20.
Damascus accuses Druze groups of cutting it, but the Observatory says armed groups allied with the government took control of the area and have been blocking travel.
The United Nations was able to send some aid convoys to the province, but an interior ministry source told Syrian state television on Sunday that the humanitarian corridor was temporarily closed "until the area is secured after outlaw groups violated the ceasefire".
FRANCE 24 report in Sweida: Tens of thousands displaced since clashes began
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Syria's minority communities have expressed concerns for their safety since the fall of Assad, who had presented himself as a protector of minorities.
While the new Syrian authorities have repeatedly stated their intent to protect all of the country's ethnic and religious groups, the killing of more than 1,700 mostly Alawite civilians along the coast in March and the violence in Sweida have raised doubts about their ability to manage sectarian tensions.
The government has said it will investigate July's violence in Sweida, and a committee in charge of the inquiry held its first meeting on Saturday.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)
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