Sweida tensions: US Syria envoy urges restraint

US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack urged restraint on Saturday in Syria's Druze-majority Sweida province after competing accounts over prominent local figure Atef Hunaidi's departure from the region.

Syrian state television said Friday that “outlaw groups” in Sweida forced Hunaidi to leave after kidnapping him from his home over a statement condemning recent remarks by Druze leader Hikmat al-Hijri. It said Hunaidi later arrived in Damascus.

Barrack said Hunaidi had been “arbitrarily detained and driven from his home” and said his team was in contact with Hunaidi and others caught in what he called intracommunal violence. He urged “restraint in action, and communication in earnest”.

The National Guard affiliated with Hijri said its fighters moved to contain the situation after tensions rose and people gathered outside Hunaidi's home. It said Hunaidi was taken at his own request to a checkpoint near a village, where he took a taxi to Damascus.

Sweida city and other parts of the province are controlled by local armed groups and are among the last major areas outside Syria's new authorities. State media reported this week that clashes with local armed groups wounded 10 government security personnel after two civilians were killed in similar clashes west of Sweida city.