Two killed in gunfire on a passenger bus between Damascus and Sweida in Syria

SadaNews - Two people were killed in gunfire directed at a passenger bus on the road connecting Damascus and the Sweida governorate in southern Syria today, Tuesday, according to the Syrian state news agency "SANA", following more than three months of violence that the governorate has witnessed.

The governorate witnessed clashes between armed Druze and Bedouin groups starting from July 13 for a week, which escalated into bloody confrontations after the intervention of government forces and subsequently armed groups from the tribes. While Damascus confirmed that its forces intervened to halt the clashes, witnesses and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights accused them of committing violations.

Despite a ceasefire announcement, the governorate still experiences tension. The city of Sweida remains under the control of Druze fighters, while government forces control the surrounding areas.

SANA reported that "a passenger bus at the Marjaneh fuel station on the Damascus-Sweida road came under gunfire from unknown militants, resulting in two deaths and several injuries."

It added that "the relevant authorities are working to track down the assailants, and the injured have been taken to the hospital."

The local platform Sweida 24 stated that the deceased were a woman named Aya Salam and a young man named Kamal Abdul Baqi.

It mentioned that the bus was targeted while returning from Damascus, in an area "within the zones of public security checkpoints.”

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, all passengers on the bus were Druze.

The Sweida governorate, for its part, stated in a statement that the attack was carried out by a "group that is outside the law", pointing to "the mobilization of the relevant authorities and the pursuit of investigations."

This incident is not the first of its kind in the area since the ceasefire, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The violence in July resulted in the deaths of more than two thousand people, including 789 Druze who were "executed in the field by gunfire from elements of the Ministries of Defense and Interior," according to the observatory.

In September, Damascus announced a roadmap supported by the United States and Jordan to establish reconciliation in the Sweida governorate, which involves holding accountable "everyone whose hands are stained with attacking civilians."