A fragile ceasefire in southern Syria collapsed Monday night as Syrian government security forces clashed with the National Guard in Sweida, the predominantly Druze province in the country's south.
Fighting erupted at multiple locations west and northwest of Sweida city, including the towns of Walgha, al-Mansoura, and Tel Khadid. Residents reported sustained heavy machine gun fire and mortar shelling throughout the evening.
According to the National Guard, a Druze militia controlling a lot of the province, government forces fired 23mm machine guns and mortars toward the western outskirts of the city. One shell struck a residential area, wounding a child with shrapnel. The militia warned that attacks on civilian neighborhoods would not go unanswered.
Syrian government sources offered a different account, claiming that armed groups attacked security positions in rural areas using mortars and heavy weapons. North Press, a regional news outlet, reported that ten government security personnel were wounded in the exchanges.
The violence comes just days after an August 29 clash within Sweida itself between local factions that involved gunfire, grenades, and rocket-propelled grenades, injuring local commanders and damaging homes.
