A few weeks after bloody clashes rattled the Druze-majority Sweida (Suwayda) region in southern Syria, local business leaders escalated a public dispute with central authorities over access to food and essential goods. The Sweida Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday accused security forces of obstructing and exploiting supply routes, warning that a worsening “suffocating siege” is driving up hardship for residents.
In a statement posted on the Sweida Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Facebook account on August 22, the body “strictly” denied any coordination with Damascus over the entry of food shipments into the governorate. The chamber issued the rebuttal after a recent comment by Colonel Ahmed Dalati, identified as the head of internal security in Sweida under the Ministry of the Interior, who had suggested that there was cooperation to facilitate imports.
The chamber rejected that claim outright, saying it has not engaged in any communication with the government in Damascus since the start of what it described as a “barbaric war” waged on the governorate. It called the Interior Ministry’s narrative “unhealthy” and an attempt to “polish the image of some officials at the expense of the suffering of the people of Sweida.”
Beyond denying coordination, the chamber alleged that some local traders who tried to source goods from Damascus have faced extortion at security checkpoints. According to the statement, merchants were forced to pay money in exchange for allowing trucks to pass, and in many cases, the goods never reached families in Sweida. The chamber did not provide specific incidents or figures, and its claims could not be independently verified.
“We confirm that the governorate of Sweida is still under a suffocating siege that prevents the normal and regular import of food and essential commodities,” the statement read, adding that the chokehold has intensified the living crisis facing residents. It called for the “immediate lifting of the siege” and for guarantees that essential materials can enter “without obstruction or blackmail.”
The accusations come amid heightened tension and deepening economic strain in Sweida. This province had largely avoided front-line fighting during much of Syria’s war but has seen periodic unrest, including rare armed clashes in recent weeks. Years of conflict, currency collapse, and fuel shortages have eroded purchasing power and complicated supply chains across the country. In Sweida, where supply routes run through areas controlled by state security forces, traders and residents have long complained of arbitrary fees and delays, allegations authorities have routinely disputed.
Aid groups have repeatedly urged all parties in Syria to ensure unimpeded delivery of humanitarian goods, warning that disruptions—whether from insecurity, administrative hurdles, or predation at checkpoints—can swiftly translate into empty shelves and rising prices for vulnerable households.
By placing its grievances squarely in the public domain, the Sweida Chamber of Commerce and Industry sought to garner broader attention to what it portrays as avoidable and artificial obstacles. “We put everyone before the real picture,” the statement concluded, pressing for a swift end to restrictions and a return to regular flows of food and other essentials into the governorate.