Main highway from Damascus to Sweida reopens to aid convoys weeks after Syria violence

SWEIDA, Syria (AP) — An aid convoy entered the city of Sweida in southern Syria via the main highway from Damascus on Thursday, for the first time since a major outbreak of sectarian violence last month shook the country’s fragile recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war.

Clashes broke out in mid-July between government forces and local Bedouin tribesmen on one side, and fighters from the country’s Druze minority on the other. Hundreds were killed and tens of thousands displaced, and allegations have surfaced of government fighters executing Druze civilians and looting and burning houses.

Though the fighting has largely calmed down, government forces have surrounded the southern city. The Druze have said that little aid is going in, calling it a siege.

Sweida’s provincial government said in a statement Thursday that a convoy had arrived in the city via the main highway, carrying U.N. aid intended “to meet the residents’ basic needs.” State-run Al-Ikhbariya TV said the convoy included 18 trucks carrying food baskets, cleaning supplies and solar-powered lamps.

The main highway had been closed since the fighting, with the aid convoys that did go in taking a circuitous route by way of Daraa province, which is south of Sweida.

U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria Adam Abdelmoula in a statement last week after visiting Sweida said that the health system was “under severe strain,” with hospitals and clinics “facing acute shortages of essential medications, including insulin, dialysis supplies, and cancer treatments.”

The statement added that prices for basic goods had soared, with families waiting in long lines for fuel and other essentials.

“Humanitarian assistance alone cannot resolve these challenges,” it said. “Restoring safe and reliable flows of commercial goods is critical to stabilizing the situation and preventing further deterioration.”