(18 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++PARTIALLY MUTE++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Al Mazraa, Syria – 18 July 2025
1. Driving shot of smoke rising from damaged buildings in Al Mazraa amid ongoing clashes
2. Mid of armed people on motorcycles riding down road in Al Mazraa
3. Various aerials of smoke rising from damaged buildings ++MUTE++
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khalil Al-Abed, Clan fighter supporting the Bedouins:
"Our problem is not sectarian. The Druze are our brothers, the Alawites are our brothers, and the Christians are our brothers. Our problem is with those who killed children and women and mutilated the bodies of children (accusations against the Al Hajri)".
5. Mid of man walking, traffic
6. Mid of armed men resting against a wall
7. Wide of damaged building
8. Mid of damaged car and building
9. Various of traffic, armed men on street
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abu Mariam, Clan fighter supporting the Bedouins:
"We will not return to our homes until we crush Al Hajri and (people) like him. We have nothing to do with civilians and innocents as long as they stay in their homes. We came from Deir ez-Zor, and Al Bukamal on the border with Iraq to support the oppressed. God is Great."
11. Various of vehicles and motorbikes on a road with smoke rising in the background
12. Mid of armed people, smoke rising from burning building
STORYLINE:
Renewed clashes broke out overnight into Friday between Druze armed groups and members of Bedouin clans in southern Syria.
Government forces were preparing to deploy again to the area on Friday after pulling out under a ceasefire agreement that halted several days of violence earlier this week, officials said.
Government security forces agreed with some of the Druze factions that they would re-enter the area to impose stability and protect state institutions, according to two Syrian officials who spoke Friday on condition of anonymity.
Thousands of people remained displaced by the violence and the United Nations has been unable to bring in much-needed humanitarian and medical aid because of ongoing clashes.
Bedouin groups arrived on Friday from other areas of Syria to join the fight.
On the outskirts of Al Mazraa, groups gathered in front of buildings that had been set ablaze.
An armed man who gave his name only as Abu Mariam said he had come from the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor to “support the oppressed.”
“We will not return to our homes until we crush Al Hijri and his ilk," he said, referring to a prominent Druze leader opposed to the government in Damascus, Sheikh Hikmat Al Hijri. We have nothing to do with civilians and innocent people as long as they stay in their homes."
Syrian government forces pulled out of the Druze-majority southern province of Sweida after days of clashes with militias linked to the Druze religious minority that threatened to unravel the country’s fragile post-war transition.
The conflict drew airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel in defense of the Druze minority before most of the fighting was halted by a truce announced Wednesday that was mediated by the US, Turkey and Arab countries.
Under that agreement, Druze factions and clerics would be left to maintain internal security in Sweida, Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa said on Thursday.
The clashes initially began between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes on Sunday before government forces intervened, nominally to restore order, but ended up taking the Bedouins’ side against the Druze.
AP video by Ghaith Alsayed
Production by Baraa Anwer
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