BEIRUT, July 22. /TASS/. Some 1,265 people have been killed in armed clashes in Syria's southern province of Suwayda that started on July 13, the Elnashra news portal said, citing medical sources. The number of deaths increased by 146 in 24 hours, according to the portal.
The Druze self-defense units suffered the heaviest losses, which amounted to 78 fighters, up from 427 to 505 people in one day. The number of deaths among civilians remained at 298.
Special forces of the Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry sent from Damascus to the southern regions to restore stability lost 54 servicemen, with the number of those killed among them having risen from 354 to 408 in 24 hours. Losses in the pro-government formations of Arab tribes went up from 21 to 35 militiamen. Earlier, 19 members of the internal security forces were killed in Israeli airstrikes.
The situation in southern Syria escalated on July 13, when clashes broke out in Al-Suwayda between Arab tribal militias and Druze self-defense units. On July 15, the Syrian army entered the administrative center of the region of the same name and began cleansing. Shortly after, Israel began attacking military convoys of the Syrian army, explaining this as a desire to protect the Druze population of the province, and on July 16 it attacked several strategic facilities in Damascus.
On July 19, Syrian President for the transitional period Ahmed al-Sharaa introduced a ceasefire across the entire southern province. However, on July 20, skirmishes between Druze and Bedouins groups resumed north of the provincial administrative center. As a result, the prisoner exchange planned between the parties did not take place.