Young Syrians stand near a destroyed tank during deadly clashes between Druze and Bedouin fighters in the province of Sweida, to which Damascus security forces quickly joined, on July 25, 2025. (Credit: Khalil Ashawi/Reuters)
Two people were killed Tuesday, according to a Syrian state media outlet, when gunfire targeted a passenger bus in the predominantly Druze province of Sweida in the south, which was the scene of deadly sectarian violence in July.
According to the official SANA agency, "unknown armed men opened fire on a passenger bus, leaving two dead and several injured."
The local site Suwayda24 said the bus, which was traveling the Damascus-Sweida route, was targeted "in an area where government forces have checkpoints," confirming that a man and a woman were killed. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), all the bus passengers were Druze.
The province of Sweida saw clashes in July between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouins, which escalated with intervention by government forces and tribes from other regions. Since then, government forces have been deployed throughout the province and control the road leading to Damascus, while Druze fighters maintain control over the city of Sweida.
In September, Syrian authorities announced a plan backed by the United States and neighboring Jordan to pacify the province, but the situation remains unstable. One of Syria’s top Druze spiritual leaders, Hikmat al-Hijri, called for “full independence” for the province in an interview Monday with Sky News Arabia.
Al-Hijri, the most outspoken in his opposition to the transitional authorities in Damascus, has drawn the ire of the government for demanding international protection for the Druze during the July fighting.
The violence resulted in more than 2,000 deaths, including 789 Druze civilians “summarily executed by gunfire by members of the Defense and Interior Ministries,” according to the SOHR.
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