ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – At least 30 people have been killed and around 100 others wounded as clashes between the Bedouin tribe and members of the Druze community continue in Syria’s southern province of Suwayda.

Clashes erupted in the Druze-majority Suwayda on Sunday afternoon after gunmen from local tribes attacked police checkpoints of internal security forces.

The Syrian defense ministry said in a statement on Monday that they were following “with deep sadness and concern” the events in Suwayda “which resulted in more than 30 deaths and nearly 100 injuries in a number of neighborhoods and towns.”

“The institutional vacuum that accompanied the outbreak of these clashes contributed to the exacerbation of the climate of chaos and the inability of official security or military institutions to intervene, which hindered efforts to calm the situation and achieve self-restraint,” read the statement from the ministry.

The statement urged all parties in Suwayda to cooperate with the state security forces and practice self-restraint, adding that “specialized military units” have been deployed to the affected areas to disperse the clashes.

Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab blamed “the absence of state institutions, especially military and security ones,” for the escalations in Suwayda, noting that, “The only solution to this is to impose security and activate the role of institutions to ensure civil peace and a return to normal life in all its aspects.”

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that clashes continued on Monday as armed Bedouin tribesmen, along with members of the defense and interior ministries, launched attacks targeting several villages in Suwayda’s western countryside.

Both sides have also kidnapped and held hostages from the opposite side, according to SOHR, noting that there are now efforts toward de-escalation and bilateral hostage exchange.

The war monitor put the death toll at at least 40, including 27 members of the Druze community, 10 Bedouins, and three unidentified individuals. Syrian state media reported that several army soldiers were killed during their attempts to halt the escalations.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday condemned the ongoing clashes and attacks on civilians in villages and towns of Suwayda province, calling for stopping the attacks and preventing their reoccurrence.

“The repeated attacks on our people in Suwayda, along with the continued harassment they face in their daily lives and freedom of movement, are deeply concerning. These acts represent a serious setback to the hopes and aspirations of the Syrian people,” said the SDF.

Syria has fallen to sectarian strife time and again since Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebels in December overthrew the Bashar al-Assad regime, leading to then-HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa seizing the presidency of the country. Despite vows of inclusivity, minorities remain cautious of the new regime in power.