Fighting Druze in Syria could return, Bedouins tell BBC | BBC News - video Dailymotion

Bbc News

#Syria #BBCNews Bedouin fighters positioned outside the southern Syrian city of Suweida have told the BBC they will observe a ceasefire with the Druze community there, but have not ruled out resuming hostilities.   The Bedouin fighters have retreated from the city to surrounding villages in the province after a week of deadly sectarian clashes between Druze fighters, Bedouins and government forces, with Israel carrying out air strikes in support of the Druze.   On Sunday a UK-based monitoring group said there was a "cautious calm" in the region - but later said tribal fighters had attacked villages.  Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog  For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news   #Syria #BBCNews

Transcript

00:00To Syria now, where residents in the southern city of Sueda have told the BBC there is a tense calm in the city

00:07following seven days of violent sectarian clashes.

00:10More than a thousand people have been killed in clashes between the Bedouin and Druze communities.

00:15But despite some reports of attacks, a ceasefire enforced by the Syrian government largely appears to be holding.

00:22Correspondent John Donison travelled to the area around Sueda,

00:25around 100 kilometres south of the capital Damascus, and sent this report.

00:30In Sueda province, a show of force and defiance.

00:38Hundreds of Bedouin gunmen firing wildly by the roadside.

00:45Holding them back, Syrian government troops sent south to enforce a ceasefire.

00:51This here is the last government checkpoint before Sueda,

00:55but all afternoon, Bedouin gunmen have been massing on this road.

01:00Now, they say that they have stuck to the ceasefire deal,

01:04but they say if they don't get their hostages out, get the sick, the injured out, then they're going to go back in.

01:11And this Bedouin leader told me it wasn't over.

01:18If the Druze don't commit to the deal, we will re-enter Sueda again, he said,

01:24even if it becomes our cemetery.

01:27Eventually, we did see some ambulances being allowed to enter the city,

01:36where hundreds of people have been killed and wounded.

01:39And earlier this morning, the first aid convoy was allowed to head towards Sueda city,

01:45now under full Druze control.

01:48But there's no electricity or running water, and food is in short supply.

01:53And those who've got out of Sueda, the UN says 130,000 have been displaced, are also in need.

02:04At this schoolyard turned makeshift shelter, Bedouin families are waiting for aid.

02:10I asked Tanaya Romay Saifan whether Druze and Bedouin could ever live side by side again.

02:21No, absolutely not, she said, as the crowd backed her up.

02:28You can't trust the Druze, they're traitors.

02:30With such a level of distrust then, this is a fragile truce.

02:40The gunmen may be pulling back for now, but Syria is far from united.

02:46John Donison, BBC News, in Sueda province.

02:51Molina Sinjab is in Damascus, where she gave us the latest on this tense ceasefire.

02:55Well, apparently it's still holding so far until the early hours of the morning,

03:00which is something really positive after almost a week of really tense and violent attacks

03:06that left over a thousand killed, mainly from the Druze community.

03:12So far, the Syrian Ministry of Interior have also announced that some of the tribal

03:20families who were in Sueda have been evacuated and they've managed to secure a safe passage for them.

03:28The Druze are saying that there have been a lot of missing people.

03:32They've put out a list of at least 80 missing women and they're still trying to see where are they.

03:40You know, thousands have fled villages around Sueda and have been displaced.

03:45Now, the Druze community as well, they've allowed in yesterday a convoy from the Syrian Red Crescent

03:55to enter Sueda with aid and medical supplies.

03:59But at the moment, you know, it's the early hours of the morning.

04:02We're still watching how this ceasefire agreement is going to unfold.

04:07Mainly, it is divided into three phases, a halt of hostilities, government forces to enter Sueda,

04:15you know, arrange for safe passages for civilians to be, you know, treated, evacuated,

04:22and then for the government to restore its presence inside Sueda.

04:26Something the Druze are rejecting until this moment because they put the whole responsibility

04:32of the killing and massacres that took place inside Sueda on government forces.

04:38And this is a huge test for this fledgling government to try and maintain peace across this vast and tribally fractured country.

04:49Yes, indeed. And, you know, observers to the situation, you know, if you know the history of Syria,

04:54the Bedouins, the tribes have always shifted alliances depending on the power structure.

05:01In the past, they worked for Hafez al-Assad to crush the Kurds.

05:06They worked for Bashar al-Assad in the past 10 years to crush different, you know, opposition,

05:15including the Druze. They entered Sueda under the flag of ISIS at some point.

05:22So, you know, they've always, like, played with their alliances.

05:25And many people are wondering why the leadership of al-Shara would allow something like this to happen

05:32over a dispute of, you know, food container to reach a large scale of killing that is, you know,

05:41over a thousand people, mostly civilians, who have been killed.

05:45And the Druze, historically as well, they've opposed dictatorship in the past decade.

05:50They refused to join the army. They refused to join the security.

05:54They said they will not be part of the killing machine against Syrians.

05:58And today they feel that now they're being prosecuted simply because of their religion.

06:04That's the headline of the attacks. But the real reason for this attack, they say,

06:11is that the government have used this incident and used the tribal forces

06:15so that they can spread their power over this province.

Fighting Druze in Syria could return, Bedouins tell BBC | BBC News

Category

Transcript

Recommended