Five people, including civilians and local faction fighters, were injured in clashes between Internal Security forces affiliated with the Syrian Ministry of Interior and local factions in Suwayda, at dawn on Monday, May 4.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Suwayda reported that clashes broke out between the two sides after exchanges of fire with medium-caliber weapons and heavy machine guns in the villages of Rimat Hazem and Walgha, in Suwayda’s countryside (southern Syria).
A medical source in Suwayda, who requested anonymity, confirmed to Enab Baladi that five civilians and local faction fighters in Suwayda were injured in the dawn clashes, with injuries of varying severity.
Meanwhile, the Syrian channel “al-Ikhbariya” reported that what it described as “rebel groups” in Suwayda renewed their targeting of Internal Security positions on the Rima Hazem and Walgha axis.
The correspondent confirmed that some civilians were injured after residential buildings were targeted with mortar shells and heavy machine guns, while drones were also deployed.
The local “al-Rased” network in Suwayda said the western and northwestern outskirts of Suwayda city witnessed military escalation, as government forces stationed in Suwayda’s western countryside targeted civilian neighborhoods using heavy weapons, mortar shells, and drones launched from their positions in the villages of Walgha, al-Mansourah, and Rima Hazem.
As of the time of publication, the Ministry of Interior had not issued any comment on the attack or announced any injuries among its personnel.
“National Guard” accuses “Damascus” of attack
For its part, the “National Guard,” backed by the Druze spiritual leader Hikmat al-Hijri, issued a statement saying that Damascus government forces stationed in the “occupied” villages of Walgha, al-Mansoura, and Rima Hazem on the western and northwestern axes continue their provocative actions.
These actions, according to the statement published on the group’s Facebook page on Monday, include targeting residential neighborhoods in the city, the town of Attil , and “Guard” positions with heavy machine guns, mortar shells, and drones, in a clear breach of the ceasefire and an explicit attempt to destabilize the region’s security and stability.
The statement said the group’s forces responded to the sources of fire “with appropriate means,” adding that several members of government forces were injured as a result of the “direct and precise response,” as it put it.
After Jordanian strikes
The escalation came one day after airstrikes carried out by Jordan in areas of Suwayda province.
On May 2, Jordanian warplanes launched a series of airstrikes targeting sites in the countryside of Suwayda province in southern Syria, in one of Jordan’s broadest military operations inside Syrian territory in recent months.
According to Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Suwayda, the strikes hit several sites in the province’s eastern and northern countryside, including a house in the town of Malah (in Suwayda province, southern Syria) whose owner is accused of drug trafficking, as well as sites in the village of Busan, the city of Shahba, areas near the village of Imtan, the towns of al-Kafr and Arman, and the village of al-Anat.
The Jordanian Armed Forces said it carried out the operation, which it called “Jordanian Deterrence Operation.”
It said the operation targeted sites belonging to arms and drug traffickers along the northern border front.
On Sunday, May 3, the “National Guard” command in Suwayda issued a statement commenting on the airstrikes, saying they were carried out without prior coordination and caused panic and chaos among civilians, especially in border villages.
The statement rejected what it described as turning military operations into a means of settling political scores.
The statement also blamed the drug trade on smuggling networks it said operate under the cover of Syrian regime agencies and in coordination with cross-border actors.
It called on regional countries and international actors to pursue the main networks behind this trade.
Suwayda events
The events in Suwayda began on July 12, 2025, after mutual kidnappings between residents of al-Maqwas neighborhood in Suwayda, a predominantly Bedouin area, and members of the Druze community. The incidents escalated the following day into clashes.
The Syrian government intervened on July 14 to resolve the dispute, but its intervention was accompanied by violations against Druze civilians, prompting local factions to respond, including factions that had been cooperating with the Ministries of Defense and Interior.
On July 16, government forces withdrew from Suwayda after being hit by Israeli strikes. This was followed by violations and acts of revenge against Bedouin residents in the province, which led to the dispatch of military convoys in the form of “tribal mobilizations” in support of them.
Afterward, the Syrian government and Israel reached a US-mediated agreement stipulating a halt to military operations.
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