Amid mutual accusations over who started it, clashes renewed on Saturday, 17 January, between local factions in Suwayda (southern Syria) and Internal Security Forces affiliated with the Syrian Ministry of Interior, in the western countryside of Suwayda.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Daraa (southern Syria) said the fighting began on the evening of Friday, 16 January, and continued until Saturday morning.
The clashes involved mortar shells, 23mm anti aircraft guns, and drones, with damage limited to material losses on both sides, the correspondent added.
The media relations office in Suwayda Governorate told Enab Baladi that “outlaw groups,” as it described them, renewed violations of the ceasefire in Suwayda by targeting civilians’ homes in the town of al-Mazraa (western Suwayda countryside) with mortar shells and 23mm fire, causing material damage to houses on Saturday.
The office said the source of the shelling was “National Guard” elements affiliated with the Druze community’s spiritual leader, Hikmat al-Hijri, stationed in the neighboring village of al-Majdal.
It added that ceasefire violations by these elements recur almost daily, and that residents of al-Mazraa have complained about the repeated breaches, calling on the Syrian state to deter those groups by finding solutions, most notably taking control of al-Majdal and expelling armed groups from it.
According to the office, the village is one of the main points from which violations are launched, putting civilians in al-Mazraa at risk.
In contrast, two local sources in Suwayda told Enab Baladi that government forces fired the first mortar shell at al-Mazraa, prompting a response from the National Guard.
Damage was limited to material losses, as mortar fragments, shrapnel, and heavy weapons fire hit homes and cars, according to the two sources.
National Guard member killed in earlier clash
A National Guard member was killed in Suwayda after clashes renewed between the National Guard affiliated with Hikmat al-Hijri and Internal Security Forces in the western countryside of the city on 9 January.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Daraa said the clashes lasted several hours along the al-Majdal axis in western Suwayda.
At the time, the director of the public relations office in Suwayda Governorate, Qutayba Azzam, told Enab Baladi that the clashes began at dawn that day along the al-Majdal axis and the transport company unit in the western Suwayda countryside.
Azzam said the toll included one killed and several wounded among the National Guard, while there were no injuries or deaths among Internal Security Forces.
A local source in Suwayda told Enab Baladi that Internal Security Forces began by firing mortars at the opposing side in the Suwayda countryside.
The source confirmed that a National Guard member was killed and another wounded by the shelling, after which clashes broke out between the two sides using heavy machine guns.
Meanwhile, the National Guard issued a statement at the time accusing Syrian government forces of carrying out a series of field violations, including mortar fire and 23mm heavy machine gun fire from the direction of the town of al-Mansoura toward the city’s northwestern axis, as well as the use of sniper weapons, leading to the death of one of its members.
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