MAZRAA, Syria (AP) \u2014 Syrian government forces prepared to return to a southern region Friday after renewed clashes broke out between Druze armed groups and members of Bedouin clans, leaving tens of thousands of people displaced in a worsening humanitarian crisis. <\/p>\n
The government forces had withdrawn from Sweida province following a ceasefire agreement announced Wednesday that halted much the violence that plagued the area<\/a> earlier in the week, but which ultimately did not stop the fighting. <\/p>\n Officials were negotiating with Druze factions on an agreement to re-enter the area to impose stability and protect state institutions, according to two Syrian officials who spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. They said an agreement was reached, but later said the deployment was delayed, without giving an explanation. <\/p>\n Tens of thousands of people remained displaced by the violence and the United Nations has been unable to bring in much-needed humanitarian and medical aid because of ongoing clashes. <\/p>\n A complex conflict<\/p>\n Clashes began Sunday between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes. Government forces intervened, nominally to restore order, but ended up taking the Bedouins\u2019 side against the Druze. Israel later in the week launched airstrikes against Syrian forces in defense of the Druze.<\/p>\n The fighting killed hundreds of people over four days, with allegations that government-affiliated fighters executed Druze civilians and looted and burned homes.<\/p>\n Israel launched dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters and even struck the Syrian Defense Ministry<\/a> headquarters in central Damascus. The Druze form a substantial community in Israel, where they are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the Israeli military.<\/p>\n A truce mediated by the U.S., Turkey and Arab countries was announced Wednesday. Under the accord, Druze factions and clerics were to maintain the internal security in Sweida as government forces pulled out, Syria\u2019s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa<\/a> said Thursday.<\/p>\n Renewed fighting<\/p>\n By late Thursday clashes were flaring again between the Druze and Bedouin groups in parts of Sweida province. State media reported Druze militias carried out revenge attacks against Bedouin communities, leading to a new wave of displacement.<\/p>\n The governor of neighboring Daraa province said in a statement that more than 1,000 families had been displaced to the area from Sweida as a result of \u201cattacks on Bedouin tribes by outlaw groups.\u201d <\/p>\n The volunteer group Syrian Civil Defense said Friday that the head of its center in Sweida city had been kidnapped by gunmen two days earlier while on his way to evacuate a U.N. team.<\/p>\n The official, Hamza al-Amarin, was driving a van with the insignia of the organization, known as the White Helmets, when he was stopped by militants, the statement said. A person who answered his phone on Thursday said he was safe, it added, but they have been unable to reach him.<\/p>\n Tens of thousands displaced<\/p>\n The United Nations\u2019 migration agency said Friday that nearly 80,000 people had been displaced altogether since clashes started on Sunday.<\/p>\n It also noted that essential services, including water and electricity, have collapsed in Sweida, telecommunications systems are widely disrupted, and health facilities in Sweida and Daraa are under severe strain. <\/p>\n Meanwhile \u201cthere are severe disruptions to supply routes, with insecurity and road closures blocking aid deliveries,\u201d Adam Abdelmoula, U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator in Syria, said in a statement Friday. <\/p>\n The World Health Organization was able to send trauma care supplies to Daraa province, but Sweida remains inaccessible, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce conditions allow, we are planning to send a mission to assess needs and provide critical aid, in full coordination with authorities,\u201d Abdelmoula said.<\/p>\n Sweida conflict draws in others<\/p>\n Bedouin groups and supporters arrived Friday from other areas of Syria to join the fight.<\/p>\n On the outskirts of Sweida, groups of them gathered in front of buildings that had been set ablaze. An armed man who gave his name only as Abu Mariam (\u201cfather of Mariam\u201d) said he had come from the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor to \u201csupport the oppressed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will not return to our homes until we crush Al-Hijri and his ilk,\u201d he said, referring to a prominent Druze leader opposed to the government in Damascus, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri. \u201cWe have nothing to do with civilians and innocent people as long as they stay in their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n Problems that \u2018have no reason\u2019<\/p>\n