Renewed Sectarian Clashes in South Syria Kill Four: Monitor

Renewed sectarian clashes in southern Syria's Druze-majority Sweida province killed at least four people on Aug. 3, a war monitor said, as Damascus accused local groups of violating July's ceasefire.

- 

DAMASCUS -

The province witnessed deadly clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouins in July that drew the intervention of government forces and tribal fighters who came to support the Bedouins.

A ceasefire put an end to the week of bloodshed — which killed 1,400 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor — but the situation remained tense, flaring into violence again on Aug. 3.

The observatory said three Syrian security forces personnel were killed "as clashes erupted with local factions around Tal Hadid in the western Sweida countryside".

It also reported the death of a "local fighter".

Tal Hadid, controlled by government security forces, is a "key control point" at a relatively high altitude, according to SOHR, allowing whoever holds it to overlook neighboring areas.