2.13.2. Territorial control and main armed actors

Table of contents

Syria’s southern region has seen a broad proliferation of armed groups between 2018 and 2024,1211 and Sweida governorate has a long history of militias and tribal networks engaging in smuggling of various goods.1212 As of mid-April 2026, Sweida governorate’s northern, northwestern and western parts bordering Dar’a governorate appeared to be under the control of the Syrian Transitional Government. Significant southern and central areas around the cities Shahba, Salkhad and Sweida were under the control of Druze groups.1213 These groups had operated there for many years in a semi-autonomous manner, with armed confrontations occasionally occurring between them.1214 They resisted integration into the transitional government’s security apparatus, reportedly out of fear to jeopardise their influence.1215 At the time of writing, most of Sweida governorate, including Sweida city,1216 remained outside of transitional government control.1217

After violence escalated in Sweida in mid-July 2025 between local Druze armed groups and armed Bedouins, the transitional government deployed forces to the governorate allegedly to quell the fighting,1218 but ended up clashing with the Druze itself.1219 It subsequently took over around 30 villages in the northern and eastern parts of the governorate.1220 Interventions by the Israeli military were reported,1221 according to Israeli officials aiming at protecting the Druze community.1222 A ceasefire agreement was reached the same month.1223 In a December 2025 report, researcher Abdullah Al-Jabassini noted that these events and the continuing threat of further Israeli interventions have contained the transitional government’s authority across much of Sweida governorate. The report noted that emergent local actors, particularly the Supreme Legal Committee1224 and the National Guard Forces,1225 who reportedly received support from Israel1226 and were established by spiritual Druze leader Hikmat Al-Hijri,1227 took care of governance and security affairs. This limited state authority, enabling militarised criminal networks to resume drug smuggling into neighbouring Jordan.1228 Syria Weekly referred to Al-Hijri as the leader of the governorate’s de facto authorities.1229 He reportedly aimed at establishing a form of self-governance in Sweida.1230

The Sweida Military Council, established after the fall of the Assad regime by a group of retired officers and defectors, was reportedly the backbone of the Sweida National Guard (also National Guard Forces).1231 The formation of the National Guard Forces in August 2025 reportedly included fighters who had previously served in Assad-led government forces. This was said to be the largest reorganisation of Druse armed groups since the conflict began.1232 It is said that both the Supreme Legal Committee and the National Guard Forces included several officers who had served under the Assad government.1233 In a May 2026 article, Charles Lister noted that more than half of the National Guard force’s leadership were former senior Assad government officers, while other leading figures in the National Guard had been involved in organised crime related to Assad’s Military Intelligence Directorate.1234 The landscape became even more complex due to internal rifts within the Druze community, as certain factions promoted the idea of integrating into state institutions while others preferred decentralised control. More hardline armed factions, such as the National Guard forces, have reportedly taken on confrontational stances.1235

In early January 2026, ISW and CTP reported that transitional government forces had been deployed to Al-Shaab village at the request of the village's residents and had taken control of the village from drug smugglers.1236

ISIL cells were reportedly active in eastern Sweida’s remote desert areas.1237

  • 1211

    Al-Jabassini, A., Security Transformations in Southern Syria: Authority, armed networks, and foreign intervention, Arab Reform Initiative, 4 December 2025, url, p. 17

  • 1212

    Rose, C., Illicit economies play big role in Syria’s post-Assad flashpoints, Al Majalla, 2 August 2025, url

  • 1213

    Etana Syria, Brief: Recent developments in Suwayda [Map], 17 April 2026, url; ISW and CTP, Assessed Control of Terrain in Syria, February 16, 2026 at 2:00 PM ET [Map], 16 February 2026, url

  • 1214

    Netherlands, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Country of Origin Information Report on Syria, 30 January 2026, url, p. 23

  • 1215

    International Crisis Group, Restoring Security in Post-Assad Syria: Lessons from the Coast and Suweida, 26 November 2025, url, p. 15

  • 1216

    MEE, ‘We got rid of a tyrant’: Syria’s tumultuous first year without Assad, 8 December 2025, url

  • 1217

    Lister, C., How Israel-Backed Sweida Became Syria’s Narcotics Capital, New Lines Magazine, 19 May 2026, url; New Arab (The), Jordan strikes drug, weapons storage sites in Syria's Suweida province, 2 May 2026, url; Reuters, Syrian government forces and Druze factions exchange prisoners in Sweida, 26 February 2026, url

  • 1218

    Al Jazeera, Israel says it hit Syrian army camps in the south after Druze ‘attacked’, 20 March 2026, url; Netherlands, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Country of Origin Information Report on Syria, 30 January 2026, url, pp. 53-54

  • 1219

    Al-Jabassini, A., Security Transformations in Southern Syria: Authority, armed networks, and foreign intervention, Arab Reform Initiative, 4 December 2025, url, p. 15; International Crisis Group, Crisis Watch – Syria: July 2025, n.d., url

  • 1220

    Enab Baladi, Suwayda governorate launches “humanitarian initiative” to facilitate the return of the displaced, 15 October 2025, url; Enab Baladi, Al-Hijri states his demands: What is happening in Suwayda is “genocide”, 11 October 2025, url

  • 1221

    Al Jazeera, Israel says it hit Syrian army camps in the south after Druze ‘attacked’, 20 March 2026, url

  • 1222

    Guardian (The), Israel says airstrikes in Syria are ‘message’ to protect Druze minority, 3 May 2025, url; DW, Israel hits Syria's military HQ and near presidential palace, 16 July 2025, url

  • 1223

    Etana Syria, Brief: Clashes in western Suwayda, 28 March 2026, url

  • 1224

    The Supreme Legal Committee comprises six judges and three lawyers and was established in July 2025 as a local authority in Sweida. Its formation reportedly raised fears about the emergence of an entity parallel to the state. Zaman Alwasl, Druze leader forms committees to carry out state duties in Sweida, 26 July 2025, url; SANA, Syrian Justice Ministry Refers Suweida’s “Supreme Legal Committee” Judges for Investigation, The Syrian Observer, 8 August 2025, url

  • 1225

    The National Guard Forces were formed in August 2025 under the leadership of spiritual Druze leader Hikmat Al-Hijri. Around 30 local Druze armed factions joined the formation. Enab Baladi, What Is the “National Guard” Formed by Sheikh al-Hijri in Suwayda, Southern Syria?, 23 August 2025, url; Netherlands, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Country of Origin Information Report on Syria, 30 January 2026, url, pp. 24-25, 51

  • 1226

    Netherlands, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Country of Origin Information Report on Syria, 30 January 2026, url, pp. 23, 24-25

  • 1227

    Zaman Alwasl, Druze leader forms committees to carry out state duties in Sweida, 26 July 2025, url; Al-Tamimi, A. J., Druze Factions in al-Suwayda' after the National Guard Merger: Interview with a Constituent Group, 4 October 2025, url; Enab Baladi, What Is the “National Guard” Formed by Sheikh al-Hijri in Suwayda, Southern Syria?, 23 August 2025, url

  • 1228

    Al-Jabassini, A., Security Transformations in Southern Syria: Authority, armed networks, and foreign intervention, Arab Reform Initiative, 4 December 2025, url, pp. 6, 16

  • 1229

    Lister, C., Syria Weekly Conflict & Security: December 9-30, 2025, Syria Weekly, 30 December 2025, url

  • 1230

    Netherlands, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Country of Origin Information Report on Syria, 30 January 2026, url, pp. 23; New Arab (The), Protection or partition? The future of Suweida and Syria's Druze, 22 January 2026, url; Enab Baladi, Al-Hijri insists on independence with Israeli guarantees, 13 January 2026, url

  • 1231

    Syria Direct, Suwayda stands at a crossroads, one year after Assad’s fall, 19 December 2025, url

  • 1232

    UN Human Rights Council, International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law violations committed during the July 2025 violence in Suwayda, Syria; Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/61/CRP.7, 27 March 2026, url, para. 53

  • 1233

    ISW and CT, Iran Update, 25 August 2025, url

  • 1234

    Lister, C., How Israel-Backed Sweida Became Syria’s Narcotics Capital, New Lines Magazine, 19 May 2026, url

  • 1235

    Arab Weekly (The), Clashes in Suweida expose fragile balance in southern Syria, 5 May 2026, url

  • 1236

    ISW and CTP, Assessed Control of Terrain in Suwayda Province, January 2, 2026 at 2:00 PM ET [Map], 2 January 2026, url

  • 1237

    Netherlands, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Country of Origin Information Report on Syria, 30 January 2026, url, p. 55