(26 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sweida, Syria – 25 July 2025
1. Wide of main square
2. Burnt cars and smoke still rising
3. Building burnt during recent clashes
4. Burnt bus
5. Various of empty bullets on the street
6. Various of resident checking his burnt house and walking amid debris
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khaled Nasser, local resident:
“They shot the door open on us. I ran and jumped onto the balcony and escaped, got out of the house. They came in, burned the house, burned everything in their path, and killed whoever they found. They killed the family. Here on the road, they had four or five handicapped people, they slaughtered them.”
8. Various of shop owner Sultan Bo Sarhan removing debris
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sultan Bo Sarhan, shop owner and local resident:
“We are merchants, we have nothing to do with this war, no stake in it at all. We don’t have weapons, we don’t have anything. Those who came in, who came here you know, they started shooting, slaughtering, and burning people. They didn’t leave anything standing. They burned homes, shops, showrooms. We no longer own anything. All we had was this showroom, which provided a livelihood for over 36 families in Sweida. Now there’s nothing left.”
10. Various of Greek Orthodox church in Sweida (The Archdiocese of Bosra Hauran, and Jabal al-Arab for the Greek Orthodox)
11. Various of displaced residents from Sweida inside the Archdiocese
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Walaa al-Shammas, Christian resident:
“We’re afraid they might come back here, honestly, we still don’t feel 100% safe. We’re scared they’ll betray us at any moment. More than once, they told us it was over, things were settled, there was an agreement and the situation had calmed down. We’d start to feel reassured, and then suddenly gunfire would erupt again, rockets would start raining down. So no, we haven’t felt fully safe 100% yet. There’s still fear, still terror. As for going back to my home, it’s difficult because it’s badly damaged. We’re thinking, if possible, about leaving, emigrating. This country is no longer livable for us at all.”
13. Various of Druze militants on the streets
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Talal Jaramany, Druze fighter:
“What pushed me to put on a military uniform and go to the front lines is that what happened was lawless, as we said. They left nothing, the homes they burned, the level of crime was abnormal, beyond anything familiar or acceptable.”
15. Various of Druze militants in truck
16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Talal Jaramany, Druze fighter:
“We won’t give up our weapons unless we see a state that provides security, something that protects human rights, children’s rights, the rights of any civilian who is unable to carry a weapon, whether an elderly person or a small child.”
17. Druze military pick-up truck
STORYLINE:
The stench of decaying bodies hangs heavy in the streets of the provincial capital in Syria’s southern province of Sweida, where fighting recently erupted.
Once bustling roads now lie eerily silent, with only a few people passing by. In some areas, the destruction is overwhelming, with buildings and cars charred black.
The devastation came after violent clashes broke out two weeks ago, sparked by tit-for-tat kidnappings between armed Bedouin clans and fighters from the Druze religious minority.
The fighting killed hundreds of people and threatened to unravel Syria’s fragile postwar transition.
Syrian government forces intervened, ostensibly to end the fighting, but effectively sided with the clans.
Some government fighters reportedly robbed and executed Druze civilians.
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