On one side stand the Druze – a vulnerable minority in Syria but in the majority in the Sweida province where the battles are raging. On the other side stand Sunni Muslim Bedouins from the surrounding areas that border the desert.
The conflicts between the groups have deep roots, often linked to land.
That they have driven in herds of animals in areas where the Druze have farmed, for example, says Aron Lund at the Total Defense Research Institute.
Old grudges have been given a religious hue and so it has become politics. Since the civil war, there are a lot of weapons in circulation, and things that were not previously so violent have now become very easy to become so.
Hundreds dead
It started with kidnappings and retaliatory attacks on Sunday. Since then, over 700 people – combatants and civilians on both sides – have been killed, according to the London-based Syrian Human Rights Observatory (SOHR). Among them, 245 civilians, mostly Druze, of whom 165 are said to have been executed "systematically".
Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has sent his forces to intervene. According to himself, to protect the Druze, but the soldiers are accused of participating in the killing of civilians.
Many Sunni Muslims, not least among the Islamists who have taken power, see the Druze as heretics. The fear of Islamists made many of them line up behind dictator Bashar al-Assad, which is why they are also seen as collaborators.
Earlier in the war, al-Sharaa's group participated in forcibly converting a Druze enclave in Idlib. So the Druze in Syria have reason to be afraid.
Uncertain future
The president has promised a Syria where all religions have a place. The question is whether he succeeds in taming the former rebel movement that now constitutes his state power.
The security forces often consist of local groups, which in the south means groups from the Sunni Muslim areas that have these historical conflicts with the Druze.
Syria's future hangs by a thread. That it ends well is far from clear, but the chances increased when US President Donald Trump recently lifted sanctions against the country. Getting the economy's wheels to roll again is crucial.
Very many weapons in combination with very many people who do not receive a salary and have no one to decide over them – it is not a good combination in a society where you also have great religious tensions.
