After more than a week of deadly sectarian clashes between armed Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters, a fragile ceasefire appears to be holding in southern Syria. In Sweida, communities caught in the crossfire are reeling from the violence.
00:00These Bedouin tribesmen have come from all over Syria.
00:07They're trying to get to Sueda city.
00:10They tell us the fight there is far from over,
00:14and that it's their honor that's on the line.
00:18They've slaughtered, burned, and raped our women.
00:21There are hundreds in there.
00:23We want the bodies.
00:26We have brothers, cousins, and women in there.
00:29We want them back. We want to take the bodies.
00:32These people cannot be trusted.
00:36That anger is directed at Druze fighters in Sueda.
00:41For days, clashes raged between them and local Bedouin tribes,
00:46exacerbated by the intervention of Syrian government forces.
00:50Despite an announced ceasefire,
00:53Bedouin tribesmen continued to flock the area bound for Sueda.
00:58But for now, this is as close as they can get.
01:03The city center lies about 20 kilometers in that direction.
01:07We can still hear the sound of gunfire,
01:10and we can still see smoke billowing from the distance.
01:14As a very fragile ceasefire still struggles to take hold,
01:19government forces here have put up this roadblock, they tell us,
01:22to stop Bedouin fighters from joining their brethren on the other side.
01:26Tensions are at a boiling point here.
01:31The tribesmen all armed want to get in at any cost.
01:35They want to take matters into their own hands.
01:38They try to reason with security forces to no avail.
01:43The state's responsible for bringing back any bodies,
01:48any captives if there's a prisoner swap.
01:50There are forces from here to Sueda.
01:52If they go in, there'll be more clashes.
01:56The tribesmen tell us they won't leave.
01:59They have no trust in these promises.
02:02And they're not the only ones who feel that Syrian government forces can't protect them.
02:13I have no hope.
02:14When you see your brothers and your family getting slaughtered in their own country,
02:17you feel that this is not your country.
02:20Who am I supposed to seek protection from?
02:22From the people that have violated and killed us?
02:27Hassan Halabi is a Syrian Druze.
02:29We met him in Jaramana on the outskirts of Damascus.
02:33Like many people here, he has family in Sueda.
02:37Hassan has not heard from them since the clashes began.
02:41All he has are videos like these that have been flooding the internet,
02:46allegedly showing Bedouin fighters and security forces killing Druze in Sueda.
02:54People are worried, terrified.
02:56We the Druze are getting threats from the areas around us.
03:01These drone shots sent to us from central Sueda show how sectarian violence has turned the area into a ghost town.
03:10People on the ground are struggling.
03:12The area is surrounded.
03:16Basic life necessities are missing.
03:18Food, electricity, medicine, water.
03:25We have not been able to pick up the bodies of our martyrs from their homes.
03:28And while most Druze civilians are still trapped inside Sueda, hundreds of Bedouin families have been able to flee and have taken shelter in government controlled areas.
03:41The horror stories of Druze fighters attacking them, they say, unprovoked.
03:46It's like a friend coming to stab you in the back.
03:51They killed my neighbour and her five children.
03:54They cut their heads off and then killed her.
03:58I saw this with my own eyes.
04:00This woman tells us her daughter and other family members are being held captive by Druze fighters.
04:09I do not know if she's alive or dead.
04:13If they slaughter her with her children, how will I know?
04:15How will I know?
04:20Syria is already reeling from more than a decade of bloody conflict.
04:26As it navigates an uncertain transition, sectarian tensions like the ones flaring up in Sueda are threatening the little cohesion the country still has.
04:36And it's the civilians, whether it's these Bedouins here or their Druze neighbours, who end up paying the highest price.
