Syrian government forces and allied militia have committed summary executions and other abuses against civilians in the Druze majority city of Suweida, according to eyewitness testimony, as fierce clashes in the south of the country entered their third day.
Clashes broke out between Bedouin tribes and Druze militia on Sunday, killing and injuring hundreds of people and prompting Damascus to deploy its security forces to the south.
The Defence Ministry earlier on Tuesday claimed to have secured an agreement to end the conflict but the fighting continued into the afternoon, with witnesses telling The New Arab's sister site Al Araby Al Jadeed of violence and looting committed by pro-government fighters.
One witness described how gunmen killed nine civilians after storming a house in Suweida known as the Radwan guest house.
Unverified video shared on social media showed a number of bodies covered in blood inside the building.
In the al-Basha neighborhood in the north of the city, three young men from the Qardab family were summarily executed in front of their mother, according to witnesses.
"I heard the mother screaming, then bursts of gunfire. When I went out, I saw the bodies lying on the ground, the gun still pointed at their heads," one told Al Araby Al Jadeed.
In a neighbourhood in the west of the city, an elderly man and his three sons were killed after their house was set on fire.
"We heard their screams since the morning, and we couldn't help them. The snipers on the rooftops were shooting at everyone who moved," a neighbour told Al Araby Al Jadeed.
Others have told of widespread looting in Suweida and surrounding towns.
In the village of Al-Mujaimer, a number of shops were looted and set on fire. Gunmen posted videos on social media of robberies and arson attacks.
"They entered through the back door shouting 'Allahu Akbar'. They left nothing, they took even pillows and family antiques," one resident of the village said.
The number of people killed since Sunday is unclear. Local rights monitor the Syrian Network for Human Rights has put the death toll at around 72 but has cautioned that the figure may not be accurate due to the fast-moving situation.
The number of pro-government fighters killed since Sunday had reached at least 158 as of Tuesday afternoon, military sources told Al Araby Al Jadeed.
Israel intervenes
Around 20 members of the Syrian security forces were killed in a second day of Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said they instructed the Israeli military to strike Syrian military targets around Suweida in response to the "attack on the Druze".
Israel on Monday bombed a number of Syrian tanks in what it said was an effort to protect the minority group.
The Netanyahu government has previously threatened to intervene in Syria on the pretext of protecting the Druze.
Officials have declared ambitions to fragment the country and have tried to exploit sectarian divisions to weaken the central government.
In the wake of Assad's ouster in December 2024, Israel seized Syrian territory in the south and bombed hundreds of military sites across the country.