Lower thirds:

00:02  Report by Aya Ibrahim & Mohamad Chreyteh
01:15  Aya Ibrahim  DW Correspondent 
01:46  Abu Bahig Al Mahamed | Commander, Military Police
02:13  Hasan Halabi | Druze, with relatives in Sweida
03:48  Ola | Bedouin from Sweida
04:11  Jamila | Bedouin from Sweida

Script:

These Bedouin tribesmen have come from all over Syria. 
 
They’re trying to get to Sweida city. 
 
They tell us the fight is far from over - and it’s their honor that’s on the line. 
 
 +++ SOT Tribesman 1, Arabic +++ 
They’ve slaughtered, burned and raped our women. There are hundreds in there. 
 
+++ SOT Tribesman 2, Arabic +++ 
We want the bodies. We have brothers, cousins and women in there, we want them back. We want to take the bodies. These people cannot be trusted. 

That anger is directed at Druze fighters in Sweida. 
 
For days, clashes raged between them and local Bedouin tribes, exacerbated by the intervention of Syrian government forces.
 
Despite a government announced ceasefire, Bedouin tribesmen continue to flock the area bound for Sweida — but for now, this is as close as they can get. 
 
+++ PTC, Aya Ibrahim, DW Correspondent, English +++ 
The city center lies about 20 kilometers in that direction 
We can still hear the sound of gunfire and we can still smoke billowing from the distance. 
As a very fragile ceasefire still struggles to take hold, government forces have put up this roadblock they tell us from their joining their brethren on the other side.  
 
Tensions are at a boiling point here. 
 
The tribesmen - all armed -  want to get in at any cost. They want to take matters into their own hands. 
 
They try to reason with security forces, to no avail. 

01:46
 
+++ SOT, Abu Bahig Al Mahamed, Arabic +++ 
The state's taken on responsibility for bringing back any bodies; any captives if there's a prisoner swap. There are forces from here to Sweida. If they go in, there'll be more clashes. 
 
01:57
But the tribesmen tell us they won’t leave. They have no trust in these promises.  
 
And they are not the only ones who do not feel that Syrian government forces can protect them. 
 
+++ SOT, Hassan Halabi, Arabic +++  28:55 + 32:55
I have no hope, when you see your brothers and family getting slaughtered in their own country you feel this is not your country. Who am I supposed to seek protection from? From the people that have violated and killed us? 
 
Hassan Halabi is a Syrian Druze. We met him in Jaramana, on the outskirts of Damascus. 
 
Like many people here he has family in Sweida. 
 
Hassan has not heard from them since the clashes began. 
 
All he has are videos like these that have been flooding the internet, allegedly showing Bedouin fighters and security forces killing Druze in Sweida. 
 
+++ SOT, Hassan Halabi, Arabic +++  
People are worried, terrified. We, the Druze, are getting threats from the areas around us. 
 
These drone shots sent to us from central Sweida show how sectarian violence has turned the area into a ghost town. 
 
People on the ground are struggling. 
 
+++ SOT, Man 1 in Sweida, Arabic +++ 
The area is surrounded. Basic life necessities that are missing- food, electricity, medicine, water. 
 
+++ SOT, Man 2 in Sweida, Arabic +++ 
We have not been able to pick up the bodies of our martyrs from their homes. 
 
And while most Druze civilians are still trapped inside Sweida…
 
Hundreds of Bedouin families have been able to flee and have taken shelter in government-controlled areas.
 
They tell us horror stories - of Druze fighters attacking them, they say, unprovoked. 
 
+++ SOT, Ola, Bedouin woman from Sweida, Arabic +++ 
It is like a friend coming to stab you in the back. They killed my neighbour and her five children. They cut their heads off and then killed her. I saw this with my own eyes. 
 
This woman tells us her daughter and other family members are being held captive by Druze fighters. 
 
+++ SOT, Jamila, Bedouin woman from Sweida, Arabic +++ 
I do not know if she is alive or dead. If they slaughter her with her children, how will I know?
 
Syria is already reeling from more than a decade of bloody conflict.
 
As it navigates an uncertain transition -  sectarian tensions like the ones flaring up in Sweida - are threatening the little cohesion the country still has. 
 
And it's the civilians, whether it is these bedouins here or their Druze neighbours, who end up paying the highest price. 

++++