Negotiations are underway between Syrian authorities and Druze representatives in southern Syria to reach a halt to fighting that has left about a hundred dead, one of the main Druze armed groups told AFP on Monday evening.
Syrian government forces are advancing toward the city of Sweida, held by Druze fighters, after clashes that have pitted them since Sunday against Bedouin tribes in the region.
"Negotiations are underway between Sweida notables and representatives of the Ministry of Defense and General Security forces to reach a solution," Bassem Fakhr, spokesman for the Men of Dignity Movement, told AFP.
On Monday night, Druze religious authorities in Sweida called for a cease-fire in a statement and said they were not opposed to the central government.
Fakhr accused Bedouin fighters of participating alongside government forces in the assault on Druze towns, and of committing abuses: "They kill, burn and loot," he said.
According to him, five towns on the outskirts of Sweida have fallen into the hands of government forces.
Monday afternoon, government forces, which had dispatched significant reinforcements to the area, took control of al-Mazraa, a Druze village on the outskirts of Sweida, an AFP correspondent reported.
These forces, supported by tanks, deployed in the village, where Bedouin tribal fighters were also present.
The spokesman recalled that his movement was not opposed to government forces and that, together with other Druze armed groups, "several months ago reached an agreement with the Ministry of Defense to form a military and security entity made up of the sons of Sweida" that would control the city under the auspices of the authorities.
"We are with the state, but the state has delayed implementing the agreement," he said.
In January, his group and the other main Druze faction, the Mountain Brigade, said they were ready to join a new national army, after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad a month earlier by a coalition of rebels.
