This photo shows Damascus security forces during their brief deployment in the city of Sweida, a predominantly Druze stronghold in southern Syria, shortly before the ceasefire reached on July 16, 2025, between the interim government and Druze factions. (Credit: Archive photo Bakr al-Kasem/AFP)
Syrian authorities on Saturday accused armed Druze groups in southern Syria of preventing students from attending their exams, with fighters demanding that the tests be held in areas under their control.
Druze factions effectively control the city of Sweida and other parts of the eponymous province, where the religious minority, which traces its origins to Shiite Islam, has a large presence, despite attempts by Damascus to reestablish its authority. The province is one of the last areas of Syria outside the control of the Islamist government, which has sought to reunify the country since the overthrow of President Bashar Assad in late 2024, after more than 13 years of war left Syria fractured.
Secondary school exams were held Saturday in the northern part of the province, an area controlled by the government.
‘‘Outlawed groups are preventing students from leaving the city to reach the exam centers,’’ Sweida Gov. Moustafa al-Bakkour told state television.
An 18-year-old student told AFP she was traveling by bus to her exam center when ‘‘an armed group showed up.’’
‘‘Some members of these factions fired shots in the air to scare the students’’ after they insisted on going to take their exams, she said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
On Friday, Druze fighters from the village of Shahba, north of Sweida, warned they would ‘‘completely’’ block roads to prevent students and proctors from reaching exam centers outside areas under their control.
Citing concerns for their safety, they demanded that the exams be held in areas they control. Syrian authorities had organized Saturday’s session for students who were unable to take the exams in June because of ongoing tensions between the government and some Druze factions.
Sweida province was the scene of bloody clashes in July 2025 between Druze fighters and Bedouins, which escalated after the intervention of government forces and then tribal fighters supporting the Bedouins.
The sectarian clashes, the deadliest in Syria since late 2024, left more than 2,000 people dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Survivors and rights groups reported numerous abuses targeting Druze residents. Damascus announced in July that several people had been referred to court as part of an investigation into the violence.