The “confrontations” that took place in Suwayda Governorate on Monday night were not, in their true sense, between local militants against others affiliated with the Syrian regime’s army, but they raised serious fears among residents and activists about “sliding into violence” and breaking the state of peace that the Druze-majority region has witnessed since. August last year.
The confrontations included the firing of bullets and shells from and towards the security branches and headquarters of the Baath Party, and their outbreak came after the Syrian regime army set up a security checkpoint at the northern entrance to Suwayda, which sparked the anger of residents, opposition activists, and members of local armed formations.
According to news networks, including “Suwayda 24,” these confrontations resulted in casualties between both sides, and caused material losses to civilian property. A journalist from another news network (Al-Rased) told the “Al-Hurra” website that the “confrontations” calmed down on Monday morning, in light of talk about… “Temporary truce” and “negotiations.”
In turn, the director of the “Suwayda 24” network, Rayan Marouf, explained to the “Al-Hurra” website that there are “demands for the Russian side to guarantee the withdrawal of the security barrier that Assad’s forces installed at the Al-Anqoud roundabout.”
The demands also include “not to establish any new checkpoint for the Syrian security authorities inside the governorate, due to the lack of confidence in the role of these checkpoints.”
Journalist Marouf pointed out, quoting a source from the local armed factions, saying that “the solution that defuses the crisis is to return all members of the new checkpoint to their barracks,” and added that “failing to respond to this demand will open the door to a greater escalation in the coming hours, greater than what I witnessed.” The city suffered from clashes on Sunday-Monday night.
‘Hard on civilians’
The confrontations on Monday night were concentrated in the vicinity of the new checkpoint and the security centers near it, including the Air Force Intelligence Department and the headquarters building of the Baath Party branch.
It extended to the town of Qanawat in the northern and eastern countryside, and the State Security branch located on its road was subjected to several missile strikes.
It is not yet known whether the Syrian regime will back down from establishing the security barrier at the entrance to the city of Medina, or whether it may be forced to withdraw it and redeploy its garrison to other locations, in response to popular and local demands.
The step to establish the security barrier came suddenly and coincided with the continuation of peaceful protests against the Assad regime in “Al-Karama Square” in central Suwayda, where demonstrators have been chanting slogans for more than 300 days calling for the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad and the implementation of Resolution 2254 regarding the solution in Syria.
Journalist Marouf says, “Negotiations are ongoing at the present time.”
He added, “It will either lead to an agreement that ends the state of tension by removing the checkpoint from its place and withdrawing the elements to their barracks, or the governorate may enter into a spiral of violence with unpredictable consequences, if security officials continue to be stubborn in not withdrawing the checkpoint.”
Suwayda has previously witnessed confrontations between armed military formations and Syrian regime forces present in security branches and at checkpoints spread throughout the region.
However, in most cases, they did not result in deaths or injuries, and remained within the scope of “remote confrontations,” as journalist Suleiman Fakhr, who works for the Al-Rased news network, points out.
On the basis of this, Fakhr believes that “Monday night was difficult for the civilians and not for the two conflicting parties,” adding, “Bullets, shells, and missiles fell… but from a distance.”
A “hinge” event?
Since the beginning of the popular protests against the Assad regime in Suwayda, the latter has followed a policy of not commenting and ignoring what is called against it.
This approach had two explanations: the first was that he was unable to use force and violence due to the religious sensitivity of the city, and the second was that he relied on “the street getting bored on its own.”
On the basis of this, journalist Fakhr rules out the possibility of an escalation by any party in the coming hours.
He says, “The people of Suwayda want to remove the security barrier because it is a type of oppression and restriction of freedom, especially amid their continued calls for the overthrow of the regime and the end of its security and partisan arms.”
But the Syrian activist participating in the peaceful movement, Lubna Al-Basit, believes that what happened on Monday night “will be somewhat pivotal in relation to what the governorate has been witnessing for many months.”
She explained to Al-Hurra website: “We have been and are still emphasizing our peacefulness…but in return, we reject the Assad regime’s attempts to intimidate Suwayda.”
By establishing military checkpoints, the regime seeks, according to Al-Basit, “to dismember the governorate, besiege it, and pursue those who stand against its oppressive regime.”
She added: “These checkpoints were never intended to maintain security. On the contrary, they were to suppress the population, blackmail them economically, spread security chaos, and allow drug shipments to pass through.”
“Fears of sliding into violence”
Human rights activist, Rima Fuleihan, for her part, confirms that “it is very important not to be drawn into violence and to exercise self-control, and not to be drawn into violence.”
While she considers that “the presence of security checkpoints is provocative and dangerous because of the potential for arrests,” she tells the Al-Hurra website that “the escalation towards armed fighting may have dire consequences in light of the world’s preoccupation with hot issues in the region.”
There are fears, according to Fuleihan, “that the regime will exploit what happened, to escalate militarily and suppress the peaceful, civilizational movement that has been ongoing for more than 300 days.”
She adds, “A slide toward violence is not in anyone’s interest, and will have disastrous effects on the governorate.”
Activist Lubna Al-Basit does not see what happened on Monday night as “resorting to violence… but rather to threats.”
It says that the confrontations are “a message from the residents of Suwayda of their absolute rejection of the intimidating military presence of Assad’s forces in Suwayda.”
On the other hand, it considers that “violence is the language of the Syrian regime,” and that the latter “is the one trying to force any peaceful protest into arms, as it did in the past.”
What to expect?
The peaceful movement in Suwayda, which began in August 2023, took several forms over the past months. What was striking was that the protesters vandalized the headquarters of the “Baath Party” and burned pictures of Bashar al-Assad, his father Hafez, and pictures of the “security state,” or as loyalists describe it, “the Assad state.”
Before Monday night’s clashes, protesters had begun removing a statue of Bashar al-Assad’s late brother, Basil al-Assad, also at the northern entrance to Suwayda.
The political activist, Mashhour Hamsho, points out that what happened cannot be separated from the series of events that Suwayda witnessed in the past days, including the intimidation of demonstrators in “Al-Karama Square” by throwing bombs before they gathered to chant against Assad there, and the incidents that followed that. Kidnapping recently targeted the Druze cleric, Raed Al-Matni.
Speaking to Al-Hurra website, Hamsho links what is happening on the security side of the Syrian regime in Suwayda to the governor with a bad background, who was recently appointed.
He says that he is “trying to implement the security solution” while “our youth insist on removing the security barrier at the entrance to Suwayda, and any other checkpoint.”
He also adds, “The administration is strong and the religious authority represented by Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri is excellent. We stand by the dignity of our people and our demands for salvation from the ruling authority. The owner of the land is always the strongest.”
“When the Syrian regime brings tanks and heavy weapons into the center of the city of Suwayda, we have no choice but to reject this violent, criminal behavior,” continues the activist, Lubna Al-Basit.
She added: “The regime always tries to exploit events to serve its interests. It claims that the fences are to protect the security of Suwayda from ISIS, but everyone knows how it facilitated the entry of the terrorist organization into the governorate in 2018.”