ISTANBUL

More than 30 people were killed and nearly 100 others injured in clashes between armed Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze militias in Suwayda in southern Syria, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.

In a statement, the ministry expressed deep concern and sorrow over the “bloody developments” that took place between “local armed groups and tribes” in Suwayda’s Al-Maqous neighborhood on late Sunday.

“In this context, the Ministry of Interior confirms that units of its forces, in coordination with the Ministry of Defense, will intervene directly in the region to resolve the conflict, stop clashes, impose security, prosecute those responsible for the events, and refer them to the competent judiciary,” it added.

According to the state news agency SANA, a number of army forces deployed in the area also lost their lives while trying to protect the civilian population from the outlawed groups.

The Defense Ministry confirmed the fatalities, saying that 18 soldiers were killed and several others injured while attempting to end the armed clashes in Suwayda.

Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab blamed “the absence of state institutions, particularly military and security ones” for the ongoing tensions in Suwayda and its countryside.

“There is no solution to this except by imposing security (measures) and activating the role of institutions to ensure civil peace and the return of life to its normal state in all its details,” Khattab said on his X account.

Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia in December, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963.

A new transitional administration led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa was formed in Syria in January.