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A “cautious calm” has returned to the Syrian city of Suweida after a week of deadly tribal clashes between Druze fighters, Bedouin gunmen and government forces, a UK-based monitoring group has said.<\/p>\n
Residents reported that fighting stopped on Sunday as Syria’s Islamist-led government declared the Bedouins had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city “after days of bloody battles and chaos”, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.<\/p>\n
It followed a ceasefire announced by Syria’s president on Saturday, which did not quell fighting straight away<\/a>. <\/p>\n More than 1,000 people have been killed in the clashes and there is now a severe shortage of medical supplies in the city, the SOHR added. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n At least 128,000 people have been displaced by the violence, the United Nations migration agency said on Sunday.<\/p>\n “Activists have reported that Suweida has been experiencing a cautious calm since the early hours of Sunday morning,” the SOHR said. <\/p>\n “Meanwhile, the Syrian government security forces closed roads leading to Suweida to tribes, using soil barriers to prevent vehicles from crossing, except for ambulances, in a move to contain tensions.” <\/p>\n The SOHR added that the city remains under the control of local Druze fighters, while tribal gunmen have withdrawn from several areas within the province.<\/p>\n Long-running tensions between Druze and Bedouin tribes erupted into deadly sectarian clashes a week ago, after the abduction of a Druze merchant on the road to the capital Damascus. <\/p>\n Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government responded by deploying forces to the city.<\/p>\n