Seven injured in clashes between Syrian security forces and Druze factions in Suweida

Seven people were injured on Saturday evening during clashes between Syrian Internal Security Forces and factions of the so-called National Guard along the axis of the towns of al-Mazra’a and Walgha in the western countryside of Suweida province in southern Syria.

Local networks inside Suweida said seven people were wounded in the clashes and transferred to the city’s public hospital, while explosions and gunfire were heard in several neighbourhoods.

Sources from the province claimed that government forces violated a truce by firing mortar shells and heavy machine-gun bursts towards the city, with some shells landing on its outskirts.

In contrast, networks close to the government in Damascus accused Suweida militias of breaching the truce and targeting security forces deployed in the western countryside of the province.

A ceasefire has been in effect in Suweida since 19 July, ending clashes between Druze groups and government-linked Bedouin tribes that left hundreds dead.

The clashes coincided with a communications blackout across Suweida province as well as neighbouring Daraa province.

The Daraa Telecommunications Directorate announced that communications lines in both provinces had gone out of service due to a cut in the fibre-optic cable supplying the two areas, leading to a complete outage.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the directorate said the disruption was caused by a technical fault along the fibre-optic cable route, adding that maintenance teams had immediately been dispatched to the site to assess the problem and begin repair work.

Separately, Suweida Governor Mustafa Bakour visited a number of shelters hosting displaced members of tribal communities in the province to assess their living and humanitarian conditions and identify their basic needs.

Mustafa al-Omari, a lawyer and spokesperson for displaced Bedouins from Suweida province, told The New Arab's Arabic sister outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the governor listened to the demands of the displaced, most of which focused on securing essential services such as food and medical supplies, as well as improving conditions in the shelters.

He said the governor affirmed the province’s commitment to following up on the situation of the displaced and coordinating with relevant authorities and humanitarian organisations to provide the necessary support and to overcome difficulties within the available means.

In northeastern Syria, the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) affiliated with the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration announced that they had foiled an attempt late on Saturday by 34 people to escape from al-Hol camp in the countryside of Hasakah.

In a statement, the Asayish said they arrested the escapees immediately after they left the camp’s perimeter.

The Autonomous Administration had previously announced on 11 December that it had thwarted an escape attempt involving women and children of various nationalities from the camp, which holds thousands of families suspected of links to the Islamic State group.

Escape attempts tend to increase during periods of poor weather. Al-Hol camp, which is under heavy guard, is the largest camp in northeastern Syria and is home to around 24,000 people of various nationalities, the majority of them Syrians and Iraqis.