Government aims to move some 1,500 Bedouins out of city after a week of deadly clashes with Druze; officials say Damascus will also allow displaced residents to return

The Syrian government on Monday started evacuating Bedouin families trapped inside the city of Sweida, where Druze militiamen and Bedouin fighters have clashed for over a week. The clashes between militias of the Druze religious minority and the Sunni Muslim clans killed hundreds and threatened to unravel Syria’s already fragile postwar transition.

SWEIDA, Syria – The Syrian authorities on July 21 evacuated Bedouin families from the Druze-majority city of Sweida, after a ceasefire in the southern province halted bloody clashes between the communities , an AFP correspondent and official media said.