Syria announced that its army had begun to withdraw from violence-hit Sweida on Wednesday, following a wave of Israeli strikes on the capital and a US call for government forces to leave the majority-Druze southern city.
The United States, which is close allies with Israel and has been trying to reboot its relationship with Syria, said an agreement had been reached to restore calm in the area, and urged "all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made".
Special operations units of the Syrian Defense Ministry started pulling out of the city of Sweida, a ministry source told Sky News Arabia television.
ReplyDelete"Troops are leaving Sweida in accordance with the ceasefire deal, and police forces will control the city," he said.
According to the source, Israeli attacks are slowing the pullout.
Al Hadath television earlier reported that Israeli drones struck security convoys traveling on the Damascus-Sweida highway, but it didn’t give any details about the consequences of the attack.
After carrying out air strikes in Sweida province earlier this week in what it said was defence of the Druze, Israel launched a series of attacks on the capital Damascus on Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteThe Islamist authorities have had strained relations with Syria's patchwork of religious and ethnic minorities, and have been repeatedly accused of not doing enough to protect them.
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