How did Ahmed al-Sahara lose control of southern Syria?

The Syrian government has warned that it will reposition its forces south of the country to regain control after days of sectarian violence in the province of Sweida, a crisis that risks turning into the most serious challenge of the newly launched presidency of Ahmed al-Sahara.

The clashes began last week, when a robbery on the highway linking Damascus and Sweida triggered a wave of revenge violence between the Bedouin clans and the wood army. The situation escalated further when the government forces, first sent to this province since Bashar al-Assad's collapse eight months ago, clashed with wooden armies. Human rights organisations report hundreds of people killed, including civilians, while all sides are accused of atrocities, including immediate executions.

On the other hand, Israel intervened by carrying out a series of attacks on Syrian forces, even on the Ministry of Defence in Damascus, claiming to be protecting the woody community and demanding the withdrawal of Shara's forces from Sweida. The US has stepped in to negotiate an agreement to avoid greater escalation, reports Express, broadcast Periscope.

Following bloody clashes between Bedouins and tree trees that followed until Friday, the Syrian government, which the previous day had declared withdrawing from Sweida, announced it is preparing to return to establish order.

This crisis has highlighted Syria's fragility only eight months after the rebel offensive brought about Assad's collapse and the end of a 14-year civil war. Sharia now faces the dilemma: either give up ambitions to unify the country, leaving the south in the hands of local groups, or risk a harsher confrontation with Israel.

At the moment, Israel has agreed to allow the entry of government forces into Sweida for 48 hours, “due to continued instability”, according to an Israeli official.

Druzes, an Arab-speaking community with about 1 million members scattered in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel, have historically had a tense relationship with central governments. They maintained some autonomy under Assad's rule, holding their armed armies in exchange for not involvement in the fight against the regime.

Assad's fall was welcomed by a part of the woodbillies, but the community remained divided against Shara, due to his past as leader of a rebel group associated with Islamists, accused of massacres on wood trees during the civil war.

Drouts have yet to integrate into the new state institutions and have rejected the presence of security forces in Sweida. In April there was a clash between wood armies and security forces that closed with a fragile agreement on handing over arms, but state authorities behaved severely, demanding more weapons than agreed and using sectarian rhetoric, which exacerbated the crisis.

This has prompted a piece of wood previously reluctant to co-operate with Israel to approach Tel Aviv. Israel has used the vacuum created after Assad's fall to take territory along the border and hit Syrian military targets, also demanding that the south of Syria be fully disarmed.

Hikmat al-Hijri, an important wooden leader close to Israel, has added calls for more autonomy for Sweida ideas that were previously considered marginal, but are now finding broader support.

The situation has deteriorated further after recent events, with records of burned houses, bodies killed in the streets, and acts of humiliation against wooden men, such as forced shaving of mustaches, an honorary sign in their culture. President Sharia publicly acknowledged that violations were committed and promised investigations, but his credibility in minorities has been shaken.

This crisis comes after similar clashes occurred on the coast in March, where government forces clashed with Assad's supporters, also causing civilian casualties.

He fears that events in the south may lead to further sectarian divisions. Several Syrian Sunite groups have already called for an economic boycott and blockade of Sweida.

Meanwhile, other communities, like Kurds in the northeast, are reluctant to co-operate with Shara's government for the integration of autonomous regions.

This is the most dangerous moment for the Syrian transition. As he will manage this Shara situation, he will determine the fate of his presidency”, said Malik al-Abdeh, a Syrian analyst in London.

A Syrian official summed up the situation this way: This place was so close to success. Now everything's in danger of getting out of control of this horrible episode. /Periscope