In July, a brutal highway hijacking in southern Syria sparked tit-for-tat clashes between Druze and Bedouin fighters.

During the week-long violence, over a thousand people were killed and more than 125,000 displaced. Syrian government forces and Israel also entered the conflict.

The latest hostilities come less than a year after Syrians celebrated the end of dictatorship and the promise of renewal. The resurgence of sectarian violence raises urgent questions about interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s leadership and whether his government can truly unify a fractured nation.

What does Syria’s recent conflict tell us about al-Sharaa’s presidency?

Contributors: Dr Rim Turkmani, Research Fellow at Director of Syria Conflict Research Programme (CRP); Makram Rabah, Assistant professor of history at the American University of Beirut; Dr Rahaf Aldoughli, Middle East and North African Studies at Lancaster University; Dr Burcu Ozcelik, Senior Research Fellow for Middle East Security at the Royal United Services Institute.

Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Matt Toulson Researcher: Evie Yabsley Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Editor: Tara McDermott