BEIRUT (AP) Clashes between Bedouin tribes, government forces and members of a minority sect in Syria have left dozens dead and once again raised fears of a breakdown in the countrys fragile postwar order.
The country is deeply divided as it tries to emerge from decades of dictatorship and nearly 14 years of civil war.
Clashes have on several occasions broken out between forces loyal to the government and Druze fighters since the fall of President Bashar Assad in early December in a lightning rebel offensive led by Sunni Islamist insurgent groups, but Mondays fighting threatened to escalate into a larger conflict.
Here are the main reasons the clashes expanded in recent days and background on the two sides:
The Druze and Syrias new government
The Druze religious sec t is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. In Syria, they largely live in the southern Sweida province and some suburbs of Damascus, mainly in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to the south.
The transitional government has promised to include minorities, including the Druze, but the new 23-member government in Syria announced in late March only has one Druze member, Minister of Agriculture Amjad Badr.
Under the Assad familys tight rule, religious freedom was guaranteed as the country then boasted about its secular and Arab nationalist system.
The Druze have been divided over how to deal with their issues with the new status quo in the country. Many Druze support a dialogue with the government while others want a more confrontational approach.
What lies behind the tension between the two sides
Syrias religious and ethnic communities are worried about their place in Syrias new system that is mostly run by Islamists, including some who have links to extremist groups.
The countrys new President Ahmad al-Sharaa himself is a former militant who once was a member of al-Qaida. Although al-Sharaa had said that the right of ethnic and religious minorities will be protected, there have been several rounds of sectarian killings since Assads fall.
The Assad family rule that was dominated by members of the Alawite sect had oppressed much of the countrys Sunni majority while giving minorities some powers.
During Syrias 14-year conflict, the Druze had their own militias, in part to defend against Muslim fundamentalist militants who consider them heretics. Members of the Islamic State group in 2018 attacked the Druze in Sweida province, killing more than 200 people and taking more than two dozen hostage.
Clashes began after checkpoint robbery
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, said the clashes started after members of a Bedouin tribe in Sweida province set up a checkpoint where they attacked and robbed a Druze man, leading to tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings between the tribes and Druze armed groups.
Government security forces deployed to the area to restore order, but were seen as taking the side of the Bedouin tribes against Druze factions.
Israel, which has periodically intervened or threatened to intervene in support of the Druze in Syria, said it struck military tanks in southern Syria Monday. In Israel, the Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the military.
Israel does not want Islamist militants near the countrys northern border. Since Assads fall, Israeli forces have seized control of a U.N.patrolled buffer zone in Syria near the border with the Israeli-annexed Golan and have carried out hundreds of airstrikes on military sites.
While many Druze in Syria have said they do not want Israel to intervene on their behalf, factions from the Druze minority have also been suspicious of the new authorities in Damascus.
Concerns that sectarian violence could rise
The clashes raise fears of another spiral of sectarian violence. In March, an ambush on government security forces by fighters loyal to Assad triggered days of sectarian and revenge attacks . Hundreds of civilians were killed, most of them members of the minority Alawite sect that Assad belongs to. A commission was formed to investigate the attacks but has not made its findings public.
There have also been rising tensions between authorities in Damascus and Kurdish-led authorities controlling the countrys northeast. Despite having reached an agreement in March to merge their forces, the two sides have since come to an impasse and the deal has not been implemented.
The ongoing instability threatens to derail Syrias fragile recovery after more than a decade of war that devastated its infrastructure and displaced half the prewar population of 23 million. In 2017, the United Nations estimated that rebuilding Syria would cost about $250 billion. Since Assad was overthrown, some experts say that number could be as high as $400 billion.
贝鲁特（美联社）——叙利亚境内贝都因部落、政府军与少数教派成员之间的冲突已造成数十人死亡，再次引发人们对这个国家脆弱的战后秩序可能崩溃的担忧。
该国在试图摆脱数十年独裁统治和近14年内战的过程中，社会分裂严重。
自12月初由逊尼派伊斯兰反叛组织发起的闪电攻势导致巴沙尔·阿萨德总统下台以来，效忠政府的部队与德鲁兹武装人员已多次爆发冲突，而周一的交火恐将升级为更大规模的冲突。
以下是冲突近日升级的主要原因及双方背景：
德鲁兹派与叙利亚新政府
德鲁兹教派是伊斯兰教什叶派分支伊斯玛仪派在10世纪衍生的少数宗教群体。全球约100万德鲁兹教徒中，超半数居住在叙利亚，其余主要分布于黎巴嫩和以色列，包括以色列在1967年中东战争中从叙利亚夺取并于1981年吞并的戈兰高地。在叙利亚境内，德鲁兹教徒主要聚居在南部的苏韦达省，以及大马士革南郊的贾拉马纳和阿什拉菲亚特·萨赫纳亚等地区。
过渡政府曾承诺包容少数群体，包括德鲁兹人，但叙利亚于三月下旬宣布的新一届23人政府中，仅有一位德鲁兹成员——农业部长阿姆贾德·巴德尔。
在阿萨德家族的严密统治下，宗教自由得到保障，当时该国还以世俗化和阿拉伯民族主义制度为荣。
德鲁兹人对如何处理该国新现状下的问题存在分歧。许多德鲁兹人支持与政府对话，而另一些人则主张采取更具对抗性的方式。
双方紧张关系背后的深层原因
叙利亚的宗教和族群团体对他们在该国新体系中的地位感到担忧，该体系主要由伊斯兰主义者主导，其中一些人还与极端组织有关联。
该国新任总统艾哈迈德·沙拉阿本人曾是一名武装分子，并一度加入基地组织。尽管沙拉阿声称将保护少数族裔和宗教群体的权利，但自阿萨德政权倒台以来，该国已发生多轮教派仇杀事件。
由阿拉维派主导的阿萨德家族统治长期压迫该国占多数的逊尼派民众，同时赋予少数群体部分权力。
在叙利亚长达14年的冲突期间，德鲁兹人组建了自己的民兵组织，部分原因是为了抵御那些视他们为异端分子的穆斯林原教旨主义武装。2018年，伊斯兰国组织成员袭击了苏韦达省的德鲁兹人，造成200多人死亡，并劫持了20余人作为人质。
检查站遭抢劫后爆发冲突
总部位于英国的战争监测机构"叙利亚人权观察组织"称，冲突始于苏韦达省一个贝都因部落成员设立检查站并袭击抢劫了一名德鲁兹人，随后该部落与德鲁兹武装团体之间爆发了报复性袭击和绑架事件。
政府安全部队被派往该地区以恢复秩序，但被认为偏袒贝都因部落，对抗德鲁兹派系。
以色列周一表示，其空袭了叙利亚南部的军用坦克。该国曾多次为支持叙利亚德鲁兹人而进行干预或威胁干预。在以色列，德鲁兹群体被视为忠诚的少数民族，并常有人在军队服役。
以色列不希望伊斯兰武装分子靠近其北部边境。自阿萨德政权倒台以来，以军已控制了叙利亚境内毗邻以色列吞并的戈兰高地、由联合国巡逻的缓冲地带，并对军事目标发动了数百次空袭。
尽管叙利亚许多德鲁兹人表示不希望以色列代表他们进行干预，但德鲁兹少数派中的一些派系也对大马士革的新政权持怀疑态度。
宗派暴力可能加剧引发担忧
冲突事件引发人们对宗派暴力再度升级的担忧。今年3月，忠于阿萨德的武装分子对政府安全部队发动伏击，随即引发持续数日的宗派报复性袭击，造成数百名平民丧生，其中多数是阿萨德所属的少数派阿拉维派成员。当局已成立委员会调查这些袭击事件，但调查结果尚未公开。
大马士革当局与掌控该国东北部的库尔德领导当局之间的紧张局势持续升级。尽管双方已于三月达成合并武装力量的协议，但此后谈判陷入僵局，协议至今未能落实。
持续的动荡可能破坏叙利亚脆弱的复苏进程。此前长达十多年的战争摧毁了该国基础设施，导致战前2300万人口中有一半流离失所。2017年联合国曾估算，叙利亚重建需耗资约2500亿美元。自阿萨德政权被推翻后，有专家表示这一数字可能高达4000亿美元。
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