Armed Group Storms Suwayda Education Directorate, Director Withdraws

The local al-Rased platform, which covers news in Suwayda, said Ballan announced his withdrawal at the Internal Security Command building after severe tensions had gripped the Education Directorate since the morning. During the unrest, gunfire was fired into the air and employees were prevented from entering.

It added that employees were surprised in the morning by people entering offices and ordering them to leave the Education Directorate building. As chaos escalated outside, one man reportedly used a handgun and fired into the air to disperse those gathered.

“An Attempt to Impose Chaos”

Laith al-Balous, a Druze figure close to the government, said the attack on the Education Directorate and other state institutions clearly reflected the danger posed by separatist projects and attempts to impose a fait accompli by force of arms.

He added that what happened at the directorate, along with the intimidation of employees and civilians, was not an isolated incident but part of a systematic effort to undermine state institutions and destabilize the province, “in service of agendas that have nothing to do with the interests of Suwayda residents.”

He said that targeting an official while carrying out his duties was a “serious violation,” showing that some were trying to impose a logic of chaos at the expense of law, something he described as unacceptable.

Al-Balous called on Suwayda’s residents, across their religious, social, and national constituencies, to take a clear and firm stand against practices that damage the province’s history and standing and threaten its present and future.

He added that silence was no longer an option, and that protecting civil peace and preserving the dignity of people and institutions required a responsible position that would put an end to anyone trying to tamper with the province’s security under any slogan. He said Suwayda, long seen as a symbol of dignity and patriotism, would not become an arena for chaos or a platform for partition projects.

Education Sector in Suwayda, Students Bear the Brunt

Suwayda’s education sector has been deteriorating amid a shortage of teachers, irregular salary payments, and the unresolved fate of secondary school students following the events of July 2025.

Over recent months, the Education Directorate in Suwayda held secondary school exams that had originally been scheduled for July but were postponed because of the unrest.

A source in Suwayda’s Education Directorate, who asked not to be named, previously told Enab Baladi that the directorate had repeatedly tried to contact the Ministry of Education to resolve the issue of secondary school students, but received neither cooperation nor a response, prompting it to proceed with the exams.

Enab Baladi had contacted the Ministry of Education to ask whether it had indeed failed to respond to the directorate and whether it would recognize the certificates issued, but the ministry declined to comment.

Deteriorating Living Conditions

Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Suwayda reported that residents gathered in a protest in al-Karama Square on Sunday, April 5, demanding the resignation of the “Higher Legal Committee” amid worsening economic and living conditions.

Suwayda province has been experiencing a rapid deterioration in living conditions and rising costs of life, with a widening gap between household income and basic expenses, alongside persistent service crises and soaring prices of food and medicine.

In a previous report, Enab Baladi examined the province’s complicated living and economic conditions, where the availability of goods in markets overlaps with residents’ inability to secure their basic needs, amid a lack of income, rising prices, and declining public services.

While residents rely on individual efforts, humanitarian aid, and remittances from relatives abroad to meet their needs, pressures are deepening across vital sectors, from health, housing, and education to water, energy, and transport.

Field data highlighted the scale of the challenges residents face. Although the severity of the crisis varies from one sector to another, all sectors share a direct impact on people’s daily stability.

The “Higher Legal Committee” and National Guard forces continue to run Suwayda’s administrative affairs. Both bodies are affiliated with the Druze spiritual leadership after the committee rejected, in October 2025, any interference by what it called the “Damascus government” in Suwayda’s affairs. At the time, it called on all those engaged in public affairs to uphold the spirit of “national responsibility,” stand united against attempts at “domination and fragmentation,” and work to preserve Suwayda’s dignity and ensure its institutions continue serving people, away from what it described as “subordination and compliance.”

The Suwayda Events

The events in Suwayda began on July 12, 2025, after mutual kidnappings between residents of al-Maqous neighborhood in Suwayda, which has a Bedouin majority, and members of the Druze community, before escalating the following day into reciprocal clashes.

The Syrian government intervened on July 14 to contain the conflict, but its intervention was accompanied by violations against Druze civilians, prompting local factions to respond, including groups that had previously cooperated with the Ministries of Defense and Interior.

On July 16, government forces withdrew from Suwayda after coming under Israeli strikes. The withdrawal was followed by retaliatory violations against Bedouin residents in the province, leading to the arrival of armed tribal convoys in support of them.

Afterward, the Syrian government and Israel reached an agreement, brokered by the United States, to halt military operations.

On August 6, 2025, the Druze spiritual leadership formed the “Higher Legal Committee” in Suwayda, a body tasked with managing the province’s service and security affairs after the withdrawal of government forces. The committee included six judges and four additional lawyers.