Bedouin tribal fighters clashed with Druze forces in Syria’s southern Suwayda province on Friday, one day after reported revenge attacks in the wake of a government withdrawal touched off a new wave of sectarian violence.
Bombardment by Syrian regime forces and affiliated militias has killed and injured dozens of people in SDF-controlled villages and towns in Deir e-Zor since Iran-backed Arab tribal forces launched an attack on the eastern countryside six days ago.
People in Syria’s southern Houran region have long turned to clan reconciliation processes to resolve thorny disputes. The practice increased after 2011, and peaked over the past three years, with residents choosing the clans over the courts with the encouragement of regime legal representatives.
