Syrian security officer killed in renewed Suweida clashes

A member of Syria’s Internal Security Forces was killed and several others wounded early Saturday during renewed clashes between Syrian security forces and armed groups affiliated with the newly formed "National Guard", led by Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri in the southern Suweida province.

Security sources told The New Arab's Arabic edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the slain officer was identified as Jamal Khaled al-Jum’a, originally from the al-Ghab Plain in western Hama countryside. He was killed at dawn after National Guard groups targeted a Syrian security gathering with mortar shells in the Tal Hadid area of Suweida countryside.

The sources added that the western part of the province witnessed intermittent fighting since dawn between the National Guard and government forces, with heavy machine guns and mortars exchanged across several fronts, including Tal Hadid, the Omran roundabout, and the al-Khader housing complex northwest of Suweida city.

Clashes were also reported in the Ara and Khirbet Samar areas. Limited confrontations had already taken place late Thursday into Friday, amid what sources described as a "growing state of tension and fears of renewed escalation".

In a prior statement to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the ministry said it had issued a “categorical denial of the circulating allegations about targeting any location in Suweida province”, stressing its “full commitment to the ceasefire announced on July 19, 2025, despite repeated and provocative violations by armed factions in the area".

The ministry also reaffirmed the army’s "keenness on citizens’ safety and the province’s stability".

The latest violence marks the most serious escalation since deadly clashes erupted in Suweida in July, leaving dozens dead and wounded on both sides.

The province, predominantly Druze, has faced mounting tension between local armed groups and Damascus-affiliated security services amid a wider security and political vacuum following the fall of the former Syrian regime late last year.

The fighting that erupted in Suweida in July left more than 500 people dead and tens of thousands displaced. The clashes, which caused widespread damage to infrastructure and hospitals, marked the worst violence the province has seen in years and highlighted the fragile security situation in southern Syria.

The situation has been exacerbated by Israel, which continues to illegally occupy parts of southern beyond the Golan Heights since the fall of Assad in December of last year, and has attempted to cultivate support among the Druze to divide the province from the central government in Damascus.

Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri has ruled out any reconciliation with Damascus, while thanking Israel in September for their alleged "protection".