ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – One member of the Syrian security forces was killed and two others injured in an attack on a security checkpoint in Suwayda on Tuesday, hours after a drone attack purportedly by the Damascus-affiliated forces led to at least six casualties in the Druze-majority province.

“One member of the Internal Security Forces was killed, and two others were wounded when outlaw groups targeted a security checkpoint in the western Suwayda countryside,” a security source told state media.

The Syrian interior ministry condemned the attack, stating that “our units engaged the source of the fire, inflicting casualties among the gangs,” and claiming that the incident was “solely aimed at destabilizing security and disrupting the lives of civilians.”

Earlier in the day, Druze-affiliated media reported that drones “belonging to the Syrian Interim Government forces” attacked several points in the village of Slaim, northern Suwayda, leading to the death of a resident and injuries to at least five others.”

The attacks violated a shaky ceasefire declared in July between the Syrian authorities and the Druze community, seeing all parties halt armed operations, the withdrawal of army units, the deployment of internal security, and the ensuring of civil rights.

The ceasefire followed deadly clashes between the Druze and Damascus-backed Bedouin tribesmen in the province, leading to over 1,600 deaths, including more than 700 individuals from Suwayda, most of them being Druze, according to a UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights’ (SOHR) report.

Syria has fallen into sectarian conflict on several occasions since Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebels overthrew the Bashar al-Assad regime in December, leading Ahmed al-Sharaa to seize the presidency, with the new authorities in Damascus having been repeatedly criticized for failing to protect minorities.