ISTANBUL

Two members of Syria’s internal security forces were killed in shelling by outlaw groups in the southern Suwayda province, according to local media on Tuesday.

The state-run Alikhbaria TV, citing an anonymous source, said that rebel gangs launched mortar shells and drone strikes in the Rimat Hazem village in the western Suwayda countryside.

The source added that the rebel gangs attempted to advance on security force positions in a new breach of the ceasefire, which had been reached months ago.

No details were given about the groups behind the attack.

The attack came one day after clashes erupted on Monday between Syrian security forces and armed groups loyal to Hikmat al-Hajri, one of the Druze leaders in Suwayda.

Local sources told Anadolu that Druze armed groups affiliated with al-Hajri launched attacks on Syrian army positions in the villages of Al-Majdal, Rima Hazem, Walgha, Al-Mazraa, and Ateel in western Suwayda.

Attacks also targeted residential areas in Al-Mazraa village, with the Syrian army responding to the attacks, triggering clashes, the sources said.

Suwayda has observed a ceasefire since July 19 following a weeklong bout of clashes between Druze groups and Bedouin tribes that left hundreds dead.

Meanwhile, Israeli army forces launched a new raid on Tuesday in the southern countryside of Quneitra, in the latest violation of Syria’s sovereignty.

Alikhbaria TV said that an Israeli patrol deployed in Saida al-Maqriz village in the area for nearly an hour before withdrawing.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army or Syrian authorities on the media report.

Syrian government data shows that since December 2024, Israel has carried out over 1,000 airstrikes in Syria and more than 400 cross-border raids into the southern provinces.

After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated a 1974 agreement with Syria.