UN says 145,000 people displaced from Suweida following clashes

Deadly sectarian fighting in Syria's Druze-majority southern province of Suweida has displaced at least 145,000 people, the UN said on Wednesday, as a fragile ceasefire continues to hold.

The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that some of those had fled to neighbouring Daraa and rural Damascus, while Syria's state news agency SANA reported that 500 people on six buses travelled to Daraa on Wednesday night.

Syrian newspaper Enab Baladi said that they were from Bedouin tribes, who are mainly Sunni, adding that the convoy consisted of six buses and 45 cars. It is the third such group of people to travel to Daraa.

OCHA added that a second convoy coordinated with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent had arrived in the city of Suweida with food, flour, fuel and medical supplies.

The agency said assessments and the handout of provisions to meet the needs of those displaced in the fighting are planned for the coming days.

The arrival of the convoy came as the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) raised its death toll from the fighting in Suweida to 814 people killed with further 903 injured in the fighting. Other estimates have given much higher figures.

The clashes began on 13 July after an incident in which a Druze truck driver was robbed by Bedouin assailants. This resulted in a series of retaliatory attacks.

Government forces later intervened under the pretext of stopping the fighting, but there were multiple reports that they committed atrocities, with videos showing them executing people and engaging in sectarian humiliation of Druze residents outraging Syrians.

Israel also became involved, carrying out airstrikes on Suweida province and Damascus under the pretext of "protecting" the Druze.

SNHR said that the toll was preliminary, includes civilian casualties as well as armed combatants, and will be updated to classify those killed by each party to the conflict. All sides have been accused of crimes.

A fragile ceasefire is now in place in the province, backed by international powers including the US and Jordan.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi spoke about the ceasefire in Washington.

"The secretary stressed the need for dialogue to address the present crisis in southern Syria and underscored the importance of protecting civilians on all sides," the US State Department said afterwards.