US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack has called for restraint amid renewed violence in the southern province of Sweida and stressed there was no alternative to talks if the region was to avoid another round of bloodshed.
On Monday, at least 10 Syrian state security personnel were injured when forces exchanged fire with an armed Druze group in Sweida. State media reported that the forces were “repelling attacks by outlaw groups”.
“We are dismayed by the renewed escalation in [Sweida],” Mr Barrack said in a statement, recalling a trilateral roadmap for peace he signed nearly a year ago with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.
The roadmap seeks the “dignified reintegration” of the province into Syria, with full citizenship rights and obligations for its Druze community, Mr Barrack said.
He added that the plan was the only path that could prevent a return to “grief”. He also expressed concern over what he described as “intracommunal violence” and said his team was in contact with the prominent local figure Atef Hunaidi and others affected by the violence.
Sweida, which is majority Druze, is one of the last areas in Syria outside President Ahmad Al Shara's authority. Israel launched strikes on Syria last year, claiming the attacks were in support of the Druze. The violence left Sweida cut off from the other main Druze population centre in Jaramana, a suburb of Damascus.
Syrian security forces have taken positions around Sweida city, the provincial capital, and its suburbs, since the launching an operation in July 2025 to subdue fighting in the area.
A UN investigation in March found more than 1,700 people, the majority of them Druze civilians, as well as members of the Bedouin community, were killed in Sweida during the violence last year.
Some factions among the Druze have resisted integration efforts by the authorities owing to the July 2025 violence. The UN investigation said Syrian security troops, Bedouin fighters and Druze armed groups may have committed war crimes.
Mr Barrack said co-operation among the Druze, Arab tribes and neighbouring countries must continue through “tolerance and understanding”, while welcoming efforts by the Syrian government to investigate crimes allegedly committed by its forces last July and hold those responsible accountable.
“The only way forward is a dialogue that delivers accountability, restores security and opens the road for the displaced to return and for what was destroyed to be rebuilt,” he said. “This is a sensitive hour, in the neighbourhood and in the world.
He urged all parties to show “restraint in action, and communication in earnest”. “The alternative to talking is not victory. It is only the next round of mourning,” he added.
