Syrian security forces walk together along a street, after clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters resumed in the southern Druze city of Sweida on Jul 16, 2025. (Photo: Reuters/Karam al-Masri)

Clashes that shook southern Syria this week killed hundreds of people, including civilians, and drew in an array of local and international players, harking back to the dynamics of the country's years-long civil war.

The violence underscored the difficulties facing the Syrian new government struggling to consolidate control over the country, months after insurgents ousted longtime autocrat Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive last December.

Some key players and alliances in Syria are different now than during the civil war, but the landscape remains complex.

Here's a look at the main parties in the four days of violence in Sweida province before a ceasefire mediated by the US, Turkey and Arab countries took effect. The truce mostly held on Thursday (Jul 17), although scattered violence was reported.

THE GOVERNMENT

Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa leads the new government and is Syria's international face. His Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, once an Al-Qaeda affiliate that later split from it, spearheaded the anti-Assad charge.

Since takin...