DAMASCUS (Reuters) -Residents reported calm in the Syrian city of Sweida on Sunday after the Islamist-led government declared that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and the United States stepped up calls for an end to fighting.
There was no sound of gunfire on Sunday morning, according to a resident speaking from the city outskirts, while a Druze source in the region said there was calm in most areas.
Kenan Azzam, a dentist, described the situation on Sunday morning as “a tense calm” but told Reuters residents were still struggling with a lack of water and electricity.
“The hospitals are a disaster and out of service, and there are still so many dead and wounded,” he said by phone.
The fighting began a week ago with clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters. Damascus then sent troops to quell the fighting, but they were accused of carrying out widespread violations against the Druze and were hit by Israeli strikes before withdrawing under a truce agreed on Wednesday.
The Syrian presidency had announced a new ceasefire early on Saturday but it quickly collapsed into renewed fighting, underlining the challenge interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa faces in asserting authority over the fractured nation.
(Reporting by Khalil Ashawi in southern Syria, Maya Gebeily in Beirut, Suleiman al-Khalidi in Damascus, Jaidaa Taha in Cairo; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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