17 Killed in Fighting in South Syria

Locals in Druze villages clash with pro-govt fighters

Two days of fighting raged in Sweida, in southern Syria, where pro-government fighters clashed with locals in the Druze-majority province. At least 17 were killed.

Ten of the killed were government fighters and the other seven were local. A dozen combatants were wounded. Unconfirmed reports say as many as 40 civilians were also wounded.

Fighting in SW Syria has been off and on throughout the war, but this is the first clash in awhile, as pro-government forces largely control the area. Many rebel-leaning factions relocated to Idlib Province.

It’s not entirely clear what the fighting is even about, beyond some references to drug producing equipment in the hands of well-connected gangs.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.