Fresh outbreaks of violence overnight into Sunday have rattled Syria, straining an already fragile ceasefire and raising fresh doubts about the transitional government’s ability to assert control over the entire country.
In the north, fighters affiliated with the government clashed with Kurdish-led forces that control much of the region, while in the southern province of Sweida, government units faced off with armed Druze factions.
The renewed fighting comes at a tense moment for Syria’s interim authorities, who are trying to uphold a delicate truce in Sweida after fierce clashes with Druze groups last month.
They are also attempting to enforce a deal with the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that aims to reintegrate large parts of the northeast with territory held by Damascus.
Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who led a surprise insurgency that toppled former President Bashar Assad last December, has struggled to consolidate power.
Many political rivals and ethnic or religious minorities remain wary of his de facto Islamist rule and ties to fighters drawn from militant groups.
State television reported that clashes erupted in Sweida on Saturday when Druze factions attacked Syrian security forces, killing at least one member.
The state-run Alikhbaria channel, quoting an unnamed security official, said the ceasefire in the province has now been broken, though the Defence Ministry has yet to comment officially.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said that in addition to the slain security officer, one Druze fighter was killed and at least nine others were wounded in clashes at Tal al-Hadeed, a strategic height overlooking neighbouring Daraa province.
Humanitarian conditions in Sweida remain bleak despite aid convoys reaching the city under a tense truce, which followed a week of intense fighting in July between Druze militias and armed Bedouin clans backed by government forces.
Local residents say the aid is insufficient and have demanded that roads into the city be fully reopened.
The recent clashes displaced tens of thousands, deepening tensions between Damascus and Sweida’s Druze minority.
The violence fuelled sectarian attacks on Druze communities, who now express deep scepticism about coexistence. Druze militias retaliated against Bedouin communities living mainly in Sweida’s western areas, forcing many to flee to nearby Daraa.
Meanwhile, in the northern Aleppo province, government-affiliated forces clashed with the SDF near the city of Manbij.
The Defence Ministry said three civilians and four soldiers were wounded after the SDF launched rockets “irresponsibly and for unknown reasons”.
However, SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami said the rockets were in retaliation for shelling by “undisciplined factions” within government forces targeting Deir Haffar, an eastern city in Aleppo province.
The eastern part of Aleppo remains divided between government and SDF control, despite an agreement to integrate these areas under Damascus’s rule. Tensions persist on the ground.
“The Ministry of Defence’s attempts to distort facts and mislead public opinion do not contribute to security or stability,” Shami said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
In the south, Israeli forces said they conducted a new ground operation near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Troops reportedly questioned several suspects accused of weapons trafficking in the village of Hader and raided four sites where they claim weapons were being moved.
Since Assad’s fall, Israel has carried out repeated airstrikes and ground raids in southern Syria, saying they target militant groups that pose threats to Israel and residents of the Golan Heights.
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