AMMAN/BEIRUT: At least three people were killed in clashes between Druze militias and security forces in the southern Syrian city of Sweida on Friday, two witnesses and a local activist said.
They said anti-government fighters also took control of the main police station and the biggest civilian prison hours after hundreds of people protested in a main square demanding the downfall of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
“People are seeing what is happening in the rest of Syria as liberation of Syria and a chance to bring down the regime,” activist Ryan Marouf, editor of Suwayda 24, a website that covers the province, told Reuters.
The outlet further showed footage of staff leaving the police headquarters building and a clip of fighters destroying a picture of Assad.
“The Sweida governor, the police and prison chiefs, and the local Baath Party leader left their offices in the city of Sweida, as local fighters took control of some checkpoints in the province,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Three killed in clashes between Druze militias and Syrian security forces in Sweida
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Three killed in clashes between Druze militias and Syrian security forces in Sweida
- Anti-government fighters also took control of the main police station
Turkiye intercepts uncontrolled drone over Black sea
ANKARA: Turkiye shot down an uncontrolled drone approaching its airspace over the Black Sea, the defense ministry said.
The incident follows Turkiye’s warning last week of Black Sea escalation after Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports that damaged three Turkish-owned cargo vessels.
In a statement, the ministry said Turkish and NATO F-16 jets were put on alert to ensure the security of Turkish airspace after the detection of the drone.
It was determined that the drone was out of control and it was shot down in a safe area, the ministry added in Monday’s statement, but did not elaborate on its type or origin.
The attacks on Ukrainian ports came days after Moscow threatened to “cut Ukraine off from the sea” following Kyiv’s attacks that damaged three ‘shadow fleet’ tankers heading to Russia to export its oil in the Black Sea.
